Tim Ryan tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Supporters of a proposed emergency homeless shelter continued to make a heartfelt case for the facility at a Shawano Common Council meeting Wednesday, even after the city announced that any action on the shelter would have to be delayed.
It was the second time local nonprofit group Shawano Area Matthew 25 came before the council seeking a conditional use permit to lease a vacant building at 213 E. Green Bay St. for the shelter. The building is owned by Shawano Municipal Utilities.
The shelter, which has been dubbed Sam’s House, would operate overnight from November to April.
As Wednesday’s meeting began, however, City Attorney Tim Schmid informed the group and its many supporters that previous public notifications of public hearings and meetings regarding the proposed shelter quoted the wrong section of the city code.
“Because the notice was incorrect, because the reference in the resolution is incorrect, we should not act on it tonight,” he said.
The city will hold a new public hearing at a date to be announced ahead of next month’s council meeting.
Despite the shelter being taken off the agenda, the crowd of roughly 50 supporters remained at the meeting for the public comment period to provide the council with details about the shelter’s planned operations and the need for such a facility in the city.
“Our mission is that we help those affected by poverty improve their circumstances and become self-sufficient,” said Muffy Culhane, president of the SAM 25 board of directors.
“I don’t think there’s a question that poverty and homelessness currently exist here in Shawano,” she said.
Board member Shannon Dawn said the shelter would provide an opportunity for people who are struggling with homelessness to have basic needs met.
“They will have some direction and some counseling regarding what’s available in our community so they will be able to get back on their feet,” she said.
Dawn said the plan was to start small, with an occupancy of just 15 individuals, and hopes of adding free or low-cost community clinic serviced as well.
Todd Raether, chairman of the Shawano Area Community Foundation, said the foundation was interested in providing fundraising assistance if it’s approved by the council.
“We really stand behind SAM 25’s efforts to address homelessness in Shawano,” he told the council. “But before we have a place to go, we might be putting the cart before the horse. So we encourage you to move forward with this.”
Allen Christensen, pastor of United Methodist Church, sought to dispel fears that the shelter would attract “professional transients” to Shawano.
He said his experience in other shelters where background checks are required disprove that.
“People coming into the communities don’t want to have background checks,” he said. “They are definitely afraid of the police. This will be a great help for local people looking to improve their lives. We are not going to be a destination for the professional transient.”
Angela Wilber, a single mother of three who runs the community dinner program at First Presbyterian Church, described herself as the face of homelessness.
“I have been homeless with my children, and we have struggled,” she said.
Wilber said most homeless people do not want handouts.
“They want to be educated and they want people to help them to be self-sufficient,” she said. “We just want some help and I believe SAM 25 will be able to do that. If this goes through it will be a huge blessing to this community.”
The Rev. Susan Phillips, pastor at First Presbyterian, said the awareness of the problem of homelessness has changed since she first came to Shawano.
“When I moved here 16 years ago, the way in which churches attempted to respond to homelessness was, ‘here’s your $10 bus ticket to Green Bay, they have shelters,’” she said. “For anyone who has a job, who has a family, that was not helpful. What it did was give us the illusion that we could get rid of homelessness by busing somebody out of town.”
Phillips said the homeless need a safe place to stay where they can rest and not be afraid.
“This would be a gift to this community,” she said.
Deb Noffke, who owns the neighboring Radio Shack at 221 E. Green Bay St., was the only person to speak against the shelter, saying it was not an acceptable use in that area.
“Would anybody buy commercial property next to a homeless shelter? No,” she said. “It’s very scary to have something like that move in right next door, next to your lifetime investment.”
A conditional use permit for the shelter was recommended by the Shawano Plan Commission, but the Common Council denied the permit in May, citing too many unanswered questions about the group’s policies and procedures and background checks.
SAM 25 has submitted a new proposal, along with a 28-page policies and procedures manual, that seeks to address those questions.
SAM 25 is a 501(c)3 nonprofit group formed in 2013 to help those affected by poverty improve their circumstances and become self-sufficient.
The group says funding for the shelter will come from grants, foundations, community contributions, state and federal funding, in-kind donations, and volunteer hours.