Homeless shelter topic of public meetings

This building on the Ministry Center’s campus on Harkrider Street in Conway is the proposed location for a homeless shelter. The Ministry Center is seeking approval from the Conway City Council for the project. Two public meetings will be held to gather input and answer questions about the shelter — at 6 p.m. Tuesday and at noon July 16, both at the Ministry Center, 766 Harkrider St.
This building on the Ministry Center’s campus on Harkrider Street in Conway is the proposed location for a homeless shelter. The Ministry Center is seeking approval from the Conway City Council for the project. Two public meetings will be held to gather input and answer questions about the shelter — at 6 p.m. Tuesday and at noon July 16, both at the Ministry Center, 766 Harkrider St.

CONWAY — Two public meetings have been scheduled to clear up misinformation and calm fears about the Ministry Center’s proposed homeless shelter, the center’s board president said.

The Conway Planning Commission voted 7-1 in June to approve the Ministry Center’s request for a conditional-use permit to open a shelter, but on June 23, the Conway City Council voted 8-0 to hold the item in committee.

“[The Ministry Center] asked them to do it,” Pillow said. “We started talking about, there was so much misinformation out there and, honestly, a lot of panic from people. We thought, well, we do not have a timeline, per se. We didn’t have to have it passed last week.”

A public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday and another

at noon July 16, both at the

Ministry Center, 766 Harkrider St. Pillow said people are asked to park in the south parking lot, and a

greeter will direct them to a room.

“We want to listen to their concerns, try to address their concerns and maybe meet in the middle on some things … if it fits into our programs,” he said.

Pillow said that even though the Ministry Center sent letters about the proposal to people in the near vicinity, not everyone was aware of the plan, including the Conway Downtown Partnership.

“That’s another reason to give it more time,” he said.

The Ministry Center on Harkrider Street plans to renovate one of its existing buildings on that campus for a homeless shelter with up to 30 beds. It would operate from 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. daily. Pillow said it would be “temporary” housing, a maximum of 45 to 60 days for individuals. He said background checks would be conducted, and no sex offenders would be allowed. He said there is a need for emergency beds in the city.

Judi Lively, executive director of Bethlehem House, a transitional homeless shelter in Conway, agreed. She said the eight emergency beds in that shelter “generally” stay full. “The more [Conway grows], the more of the homeless we’re going to see,” Lively said.

At the City Council meeting in June, some business owners expressed concerns about the shelter’s proposed location and impact on property values, transients hanging around their property and crime, said Bryan Patrick, the city’s director of planning and development.

Pillow said anyone staying at the temporary shelter would have to be involved in the

Ministry Center’s case-management program.

He said people are “concerned that we’re going to turn them all out at 9 o’clock” in the morning and that homeless people will be bused into Conway from out of town.

“If they don’t have a job, they’re going to be doing case management and life-skills training,” he said. Pillow said the Ministry Center wants to “clarify” the daytime situation. “I don’t think they’re going to bring them in from out of town. If a person is in our program, they’re going to have to participate every day — there will be things for them to do — and be in bed at night. They can’t roam around. The person they’re afraid of is just not going to have a desire to stay at our place.”

Pillow said the board and employees of the Ministry Center are “going to try to come up with more things” for the homeless individuals to do. “If they don’t have a job, there are jobs around the Ministry Center we can have them do that would give them self-worth.”

The goal is to help people move toward stability, Pillow said.

He said opening the homeless shelter in January would be “a very optimistic date.”

“If we get some grants we’ve applied for, and fundraising goes well, we’ll open in January,” he said. “We will not open it until we feel fully prepared, and we’re fully staffed and fully funded.”

Pillow said the City Council will take up the conditional-use permit request again at the council meeting July 28.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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