Homeless shelter and university are unlikely neighbors, but could be partners

EDITOR:

The Greater Youngstown Point is an agency whose nucleus is a drop-in center for homeless people. It is located in the basement of New Beginnings church at Lincoln and Wick Avenues, a key corner of the YSU campus. Some clients spend the night at the Rescue Mission, having to leave during the daytime hours; others live on the streets.

The Point saw the light of day some 16 years ago because pastors of Wick Avenue and other downtown churches saw a dire need for a place for the homeless to come inside during the daytime hours. The homeless were not welcome in the downtown because they could be a nuisance to the downtown businesses and their clientele. Despite the need, the city has offered no site and turned to the churches for a solution.

The Point searched in vain for a centrally located site. Two previous sites The Point occupied were far less accessible to the target population than the one adjacent to the university. Yet since The Point settled into the basement of New Beginnings Church in 2004, there have been no problems, according to Hunter Morrison, Director of the YSU Center for Urban and Regional Studies.

Now Youngstown State University is interested in acquiring this property, and they may want to ask The Point to vacate the space. However, the current congregation, the only minority church on Wick Avenue, will stay in place, according to Morrison, who suggested The Point find another more suitable location. This is a difficult proposition unless someone offers a site with low overhead and handicap accessibility somewhere in the downtown area. Since the presence of the homeless has not hindered the activity of the university in any visible way, could YSU benefit somehow from the presence of a daytime shelter on its doorstep?

Some of The Point’s income comes from Project REUNITE-OH, a grant awarded to The Point and three other collaborating entities to help released offenders’ re-entry into the local community. The Point goes into area prisons to counsel inmates who will be released and then tries to find jobs and housing for some of the released offenders when they come back to Youngstown. When needed, The Point provides housing for 30 days, at no cost, to avoid discharge into homelessness.

In his meeting with members of The Point Board, Hunter Morrison characterized what the agency was doing with released offenders as a learning lab for what needs to be done in Youngstown and other cities. According to CCA, 6,000 offenders are to be released from prison into this area in the current year. Project REUNITE-OH allows previous tax burdens to be transformed into taxpayers and responsible community members.

Could the university partner in some ways with The Point? YSU is an urban campus with numerous students in its departments of urban studies, social work and criminal justice. The Point is involved in projects vital to the transformation of a Rust Belt city trying to deal with core issues related to its future. It is imperative that a homeless services provider not become homeless, but rather continue doing what is vital for our city.

JUDITH STANGER

Boardman

X The writer is secretary of the board of trustees of the Greater Youngstown Point.