Yesler Gym now available for emergency shelter
SHA works with City to help homeless on
coldest nights
SEATTLE—November 30, 2004—Seattle Housing
Authority has signed agreements with the City of Seattle's Human
Services Department and the Salvation Army to open the doors of the gym at the
Yesler Community Center to homeless people on the coldest winter
nights. On November 29, the shelter's first night of operation,
36 people slept overnight there.
"I know that
many Yesler residents are uneasy about this use in the gym," said
Executive Director Tom Tierney, "but I am convinced that the
Salvation Army will be able to operate this shelter with little or
no negative effect on the neighborhood."
A number of
contentious meetings with residents surrounded the choice of Yesler
as a shelter site. According to Tierney, residents were
unhappy that their initial vote to exclude the shelter did not end
the discussion. "As a housing authority with a workable space to
offer, I felt that we just had to try to make this work. The
meetings we had with residents helped us to understand their
concerns and address them in our agreements."
The shelter
will be open a maximum of 66 nights between now and the end of March
2005. On nights that it operates, the shelter will be open from 10
p.m. until 6:30 a.m. These hours allow for the gym's regular evening
activities to take place without interruption, and provide enough
time for shelter users to leave before local children begin waiting
for school buses at the adjacent corner.
No food will be
served. The shelter will provide a place to sleep out of the cold
for up to 75 men and women, and will be staffed by two experienced
shelter supervisors from the Salvation Army.
A number of
additional security measures will be undertaken to guarantee the
safety of Yesler residents, including increased police presence as
necessary.
"I am satisfied
that our agreement with the City and the Salvation Army will make
this a workable solution," concluded Tierney. "I am hopeful that the
shelter will operate smoothly through the end of March."
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