Just put 'em out by the landfill
An account that was originally in the Durham Herald-Sun of the Town Council meeting at which Lynne Kane presented a petition on behalf of the residents in neighborhoods around Legion Road in Chapel Hill opposing the relocation of the IFC men's homeless shelter. So just like the residents of Merritt Mill Road, opposition organizes before IFC has even come anywhere near making a decision on a site. And much of it is based on misconceptions and fear about who the homeless are; there's a lot of good old-fashioned NIMBY-ism here. But then, that's the American way, even in "progressive" Chapel Hill.

I spoke at this meeting along with Maggie Silton, who serves as a pastor at the men's shelter and what was striking to me was how even the Town Council members seemed appalled by Lynne Kane's remarks. Mayor Foy kept asking her to wrap it up, as she went well over her time for what was supposed to be simply reading a petition. The Mayor was correct that this was not a public hearing, but it seemed to me it was only fair that if the opponents of IFC were going to make a 10-minute argument, that someone from IFC should get a chance to respond. The fact that a public hearing would be held later would not change the fact that Ms. Kane, had the Mayor stuck with his original ruling, would have had the opportunity to make a case without any sort of response in an official forum. Fortunately, the Mayor reversed himself and allowed representatives from the IFC to present our side and I commend him for that sense of fairness.

Ms. Kane said that homeless shelters are nuissances much like sewage plants, landfills, and jails. Of course, what she and the other residents are really doing are comparing the homeless to sewage, garbage, and criminals, much as they might try to sugar coat it. The residents say they are appalled at the idea of a homeless shelter in their neighborhoods. On that point, I am in agreement with them, as I too am appalled. I am appalled that in the richest nation in the world, we have people sleeping on sidewalks, park benches, and under bridges. These include families with children, people who have served this nation in the Armed Forces, and victims who had to flee domestic violence. And I am appalled that so many people would rush to attack and judge their fellow human beings whom they don't even know anything about.

The homeless are not "the creeps on the streets". They are, as Maggie Silton put it, "our brothers in the greater human family. They are not people to be feared. They have a lot in common with you." And as the old saying goes, there but for fortune go you or I.
-# posted by Michael McGee @ 2:32 PM