'Relocating A Problem': Disdain For Family Homeless Shelter Aired At Worcester Meeting

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester residents from the Greendale neighborhood gathered in a church basement Tuesday to hear updated plans for a six-room shelter for homeless families at Zion Lutheran Church, although the meeting descended into a cacophony as residents roared about fears of dropping property values, out-of-towners moving in, increased trash and crime.

Tuesday's meeting was the second with the community hosted by church leaders, the Worcester Community Housing Resources and Friendly House. But the reaction to new changes to plans for the shelter — part of a larger project to overhaul the Zion campus — did not appear to impress the neighbors.

According to WCHR, the nonprofit would purchase the church property, relocate its offices there and build a commercial kitchen and six rooms to house six homeless families of between two and three members each. The church would remain in operation, Zion Lutheran Church Rev. Andrew Borden explained. WCHR buying the church's assortment of buildings near the corner of Leeds Street and Whitmarsh Avenue would help the shrinking congregation make badly needed renovations and continue programs, Borden said.

Borden opened Tuesday's meeting attempting to contextualize the shelter plans as part of a mission the church has been carrying on for almost two decades. The church began helping refugees in 2007, housing them at the church's parsonage. A family of 11 refugees from Afghanistan who assisted the U.S. military are in the home today. Zion is also part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network shelter system, which is now called the In the Hour of Need Family Shelter.

WCHR Executive Director Jennifer Schanck-Bolwell said about 14 WCHR workers would use the new offices at the church. The six-room shelter would be staffed 24/7, and all families would be vetted before moving in. The residents would also have to be sober, make strides toward finding work and demonstrate care for their children. The local nonprofit Friendly House would manage the facility. With zoning approval, construction on the project could start in 2023, with the shelter opening in 2024.

WCHR has also changed its plan to meet concerns of residents, including conducting a traffic study, improving trash facilities, upgrading the quality of fences around the property and changing the on-site kitchen from a community model to a commercial kitchen used only to prepare meals for distribution off-site.

When Schanck-Bolwell opened up the forum for questions, a handful of residents began asking where the shelter residents would come from — with some concerned they would be from outside Worcester, or beyond.

"What country are they from?" one attendee shouted.

One local resident confronted Borden, asking whether the shelter would exclusively benefit Worcester residents. Friendly House Executive Director Trish Appert highlighted the state's homelessness crisis, and said operators wouldn't attempt to control where residents come from.

"If a few are from outside Worcester, who cares?" one man asked to claps from some sections of the audience.

Other residents said they are afraid the shelter would expand in the coming years, and that other parts of the property, like the parking lot, would be used for more shelter space.

"What's going to stop all this from expanding?" resident Richard Cipro, a Worcester police sergeant and 2021 District 1 council candidate, asked.

WCHR representatives emphasized the church would exist in perpetuity at the site, and there are no plans to expand WCHR's footprint. Any expansion would have to go before city boards for approval anyway, they said.

One woman alleged that a person who attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the church stole something from her porch and wondered how the shelter operators would prevent similar crimes related to shelter residents. Another resident asked how the nonprofits "would keep [the shelter residents] in containment."

Another resident claimed his property values could drop 24 percent if the shelter were to open, and challenged the WCHR and Friendly House to prove the facility wouldn't cause crime to increase.

"The neighborhood doesn't get better, it gets worse," he said.

Not every resident at the meeting opposed the shelter. Wendy Connor, who works at a domestic violence shelter in Worcester, was shouted down when she tried to talk about how family shelters operate.

"You're relocating a problem," one resident told Connor.

The WCHR plan for Zion Lutheran, including the shelter space, will go before the Zoning Board of Appeals on June 5. The ZBA held an initial meeting on the Zion Lutheran plan earlier this month, but didn't vote on it. WCHR is not asking for a zoning change, but is seeking three special permits from the ZBA to 1) operate a shelter, 2) allow office space and 3) to operate the commercial kitchen.

WCHR went before the Worcester Planning Board earlier this year to secure approval to convert a Quality Inn off Lincoln Street into close to 100 homes for the chronically homeless. That project has been approved by the city, but has been opposed by neighbors along Lincoln Street.

The Worcester area has seen a rise in homelessness in recent years following the pandemic and increasing housing prices. At the same time, there aren't enough shelter beds in the area to house the increasing population.

Last winter, a 60-bed shelter opened at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic church along Pleasant Street. Although organizers say it had some successes, including finding permanent homes for some 30 people, neighbors criticized the shelter in multiple meetings with top city officials. The Blessed Sacrament shelter was a replacement for the now-closed Hotel Grace. It's unclear if its 60 beds will reopen this winter with city officials saying they don't want to put resources into congregate shelters.

Plans for the Whitmarsh shelter, and a related traffic study, are available on the WCHR website.