Members of Ogden's homeless population need a new shelter

By John Patterson

Mr. Charl

es Rostkowski (Feb. 6 guest commentary, "Current St. Anne's Center spot is where it's needed") served the homeless in Ogden for more than 20 years. He knows more about the causes of homelessness and the trials they face than I will ever know.

I also respect his opinion on relocating the shelter. The primary premise of his guest commentary was that the shelter needs to be in close proximity to services that the homeless require. I agree the services need to be close to the shelter, hence our campus approach.

Alternatively, the shelter needs to be on a bus route, which 12th Street has. This is one of the site- selection criteria developed by the most recent executive director of St. Anne's.

Let me present some history. My concern about the condition of St. Anne's resulted not from my job requirements, but from a curiosity about the near-tragic events occurring on Wall Avenue most mornings. Four years ago, as a new employee of Ogden city, I drove Wall Avenue to work and witnessed close calls almost every day. The accident stats indicate a problem exists.

My subsequent tour of St. Anne's revealed a more significant concern. The shelter was in desperate need of repair and was inadequate in size to meet the needs of our homeless, particularly homeless families, many of whom are single mothers with children. In this same time frame, the federal government issued the challenge to eliminate chronic homelessness within 10 years.

St. Anne's has insufficient space for case management and no training facility that could lead to self-sufficiency. These issues led to a desire to build a new facility capable of meeting the space needs of our homeless and capable of meeting federal guidelines to be eligible for grant funds.

The city was willing to help by donating land. We needed enough land to create a campus of human services agencies to assist the homeless and indigent. If we could co-locate a food service center, health clinic (including mental health), welfare agency and others on the same site, it could better meet the needs of our homeless. Similar models in other cities have proven to be highly effective. Property in the downtown area has risen in value such as to price itself out of consideration. Indeed, in our fundraising plans, the St. Anne's site would be sold for commercial prices and could raise a considerable amount for the new building.

A 6-acre site is located on 12th Street. This provides the space required for the human services campus. It is on a bus line providing access until the campus is built out. The fact that it is away from the downtown commercial hub is seen by some merchants and tourist attractions as a positive. Union Station management indicated concern over the homeless bathing in its fountain; UTA expressed distress about the homeless sleeping at the Intermodal Transportation Hub; the Convention and Visitor's Bureau said panhandling in downtown caused trouble with those attending conventions.

Indeed, a 1999 HyettPalma Economic Enhancement Strategy report states, "While it is reasonable to locate some number of the community's and region's social service agencies in downtown Ogden, it is by no means the responsibility of downtown Ogden to serve as the home of all social service organizations and facilities -- including shelters, treatment centers and job centers. Downtown should gain parity with other areas of the community and region and balance should be maintained between areas which house such facilities. Currently, the large number of such facilities in downtown has created several problems in downtown Ogden, including: numerous downtown social service organization clients lingering in downtown public spaces -- making it uncomfortable for others to use the public facilities; reported and observed incidents of public urination; and aggressive panhandling. In order to address this issue, the city should consider appropriate regulatory tools to discontinue the further concentration of social service agencies in downtown Ogden including new openings of existing facilities."

The city and many businesses are spending millions to revitalize downtown. We feel the relocation will help in this effort. Meeting the needs of the homeless to a higher degree in a new facility, while working to achieve the federal guidelines, is constructive. The fact that the homeless shelter is away from the downtown center of commerce is not all bad.

If we can work together, the homeless benefit, the community prospers, and our society takes a step forward. Let's make this happen.

Patterson is Ogden's chief administrative officer.

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