Planning commission made right call for homeless shelter
“Those people” are all around us.
You know, “those people,” the undesirable castoffs of society.
“Those people,” the ones who are addicts and alcoholics. The ones whose mental health issues and past trauma manifests in cycles of physical and mental abuse. The ones who can’t seem to keep a job or get it together.
At Monday night’s city of Medford planning commission meeting, what to do with and where to put “those people” was the crux of the discussion around a request for a conditional use permit to use an empty assisted living facility as a homeless shelter.
This is the third time the commission has addressed this issue. The first, in the downtown commercial district, was found to be a poor fit. Last year, after the city and county cooperated on a search, a vacant three-plex on 4th Street looked to be the solution. It was, up until it was discovered that it would take nearly a half million dollars to renovate the building to meet the needs of a shelter. In December, the former Deerview Apartments, an assisted living facility, became vacant and the owner was looking to sell. It is close to a turn-key ready opportunity allowing resources to go toward providing services to people in need rather than paying for construction crews and building supplies.
Nearby residents raised legitimate questions. What impact would having “those people” nearby have on their neighborhood, their property values and their family’s safety? These are all legitimate questions, after all no one wants “those people” in their backyards.
After all, would you? “Those people,” the unlucky ones who lack a secure place to sleep. The couch surfers who never seem able to catch a break. The ones who move from campground to campground through the warmer months or who work hard but can never seem to scrape up enough for the security deposit and first month’s rent. “Those people” are the homeless who many times have given up on hope.
It is good to not be one of “those people.” It is good to sit and watch television in our warm homes. It is good to cook meals in our well-stocked kitchens and sit at our tables and help our children and grandchildren with their homework assignments and projects.
It is good not to think too hard about how close we all are to being one of “those people.” Addiction, as with other mental health issues, does not pay attention to last names, fancy titles or addresses. Domestic abuse is not confined to the proverbial wrong side of the tracks. Divorce or the death of the primary breadwinner in a family happens every day.
“Those people” are our neighbors. They are our family members. They pray beside us at church and their children sit beside ours in the classrooms. They are among us and are part of the community. They too need, as we all do, a place to be secure, a foundation upon which to build a future.
Planning commission members had a tough call to make Monday night. It is their thankless job to take the long view and look to what is in the best longterm interests of the community as a whole. It is a job that wins few friends, especially when it comes to deciding that “those people” need a place too.
