There was an article recently in the Dem/Gaz by Kristin Netterstrom regarding the successful low bid by River City Ministries (RCM) to temporarily house the homeless day service center for the entire County.  The cities and county have contributed a total of $300,000 per year for operation of this day service center as part of the city's contribution to reduce homelessness and address the issues of the homeless.  Click on the Read More button below for the full article in the Dem/Gaz about the shelter

The successful winning bid for the homeless service center was River City Ministries (RCM) at 1021 East Washington Street.  RCM is located approximately 5 blocks east of the Enclave and about four blocks east of I-30.  This contract is a temporary one until Little Rock figures out where it wants to build a permanent homeless service center which could take several years given the controversy associated with this issue.  This contract will allow RCM to serve an additional 125 people over the 100 they now serve everyday.

My concern is not with RCM or the services they will provide, which are badly needed. Homeless service centers should be sited in close coordination with the communities in which they are located making sure there are adequate services and facilities to address the needs of the homeless.  The following photograph shows the front of the RCM facility. 

And this is the rear of the facility

As you can tell the only recreational facilities available is one basketball hoop in the parking lot, there are no outside benches, no waiting areas, no trash cans, no places for people to gather to wait for the facility to open each day.  Frankly, the City of NLR puts more care and planning in siting daycare centers affecting as few as 10 children.  At daycare centers playgrounds are required,  traffic must be addressed as well as the pedestrian and safety to the neighborhood and to the patrons.  The RCM facility appears to address none of those issues in their low bid.  The items listed in the newspaper article addresses additions and changes to the inside of the structure.

Assuming many of the homeless live in LR as opposed to NLR. it is likely the new Junction Pedestrian bridge and the Main Street bridge will become major thoroughfares for homeless pedestrians working their way everyday to the homeless day service center at RCM on East Washington Street.  I doubt the Enclave, Alltel Arena or the NLR Chamber of Commerce will be thrilled with the idea of their street becoming a pedestrian thoroughfare for up to 225 homeless people everyday using the day services at RCM.  The siting of shelters and homeless service centers or the major expansion of shelters should just not be done on a low bid basis.  They should be done in close, careful cooperation with the community and with requirements to make sure the facility is addressing the needs of those whom they serve.  For all of these reasons a permanent solution to the day shelter should be obtained as soon as possible, however, this is in the hands of LR city government, not NLR.  It looks like until LR is able to address these issues for permanent shelter, NLR in particular East Washington will become a thoroughfare for the homeless.

 Good news, at City Council Monday night, the City determined this was a change in use for the RCM property and will require a Conditional Use Permit.  This will require hearing and review by the NLR Planning Commission and City Council.  Hopefully the issues raised here and other impacts will be addresses before a permit is issued.  

LITTLE ROCK — The Mayors’ Coalition on Homelessness wants River City Ministries, a North Little Rock group focused on the poor, to operate a day shelter for the area’s homeless population.

The coalition gave River City Ministries’ proposal its blessing Thursday, a week after Little Rock received two competing plans for a resource center called for in a regional 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness.

The day center, which would be open Monday through Friday, would give up to 125 people a place to receive mail, store belongings and meet with social service providers for aid.

Union Rescue Mission of Little Rock submitted the other application and proposed a $389,700 budget, much higher than River City Ministries’ $276,650 proposal.

Jimmy Pritchett, the cities’ homeless services coordinator, said a selection committee looked first at the services the groups would offer before looking at costs.

“They truly demonstrated they could take on what we required in the request for proposal,” Sandra Brown, a coalition member who helped review the proposals, said of River City Ministries.

Although the center would be a joint project between Little Rock and North Little Rock, Little Rock’s city manager will have to approve River City Ministries’ proposal and forward it to the Little Rock Board of Directors for a final vote. The capital city handled the proposal process, and Little Rock directors are expected to vote on the contract next month.

Little Rock and North Little Rock set aside a combined $300,000 in their 2008 budgets to pay an outside organization to run the shelter.

River City Ministries is a faith-based nonprofit that started serving the poor in 1989 and now reaches about 100 people a day through lunches, a food pantry and medical care. In its proposal, the group would spend $10,000 on two computer stations, lockers and on making its two showers at its 1021 E. Washington Ave. facility handicapped accessible.

If it wins the contract, River City Ministries would hire three new staff members and extra security at a cost of $189,400. Thegroup also proposes to spend $8,000 on groceries and $8,250 more on kitchen help. There would also be a $16,000 administrative fee, according to a budget passed out Thursday.

Jim Woodell, River City Ministries executive director, said he was excited about receiving the recommendation, but he knew the plans are only a temporary solution to helping the homeless.

“It’s an interim step. It’s not the solution,” said Woodell, who also is a member of the mayors’ coalition but did not serve on the day center selection committee. Union Rescue Mission representatives do not serve on the panel.

He would like to see in the future a permanent day shelter that is operated by an independent group.

Past reports have estimated there are 1,800 homeless people in the area, and a 2007 report by Arkansas Management Information System show more than 20,000 people statewide received assistance from homeless-service providers last year.

The day center will reach only a portion of the region’s homeless population, said Sandra Wilson, executive director of Arkansas Supportive HousingNetwork. There are homeless people all over central Arkansas, she said, and the need goes beyond a place to go during the day.

“I’m so scared that we have been working on this day resource center for so long that people may lose sight that it is one small piece of the puzzle,” Wilson said.

Wilson hopes that state legislators will establish a “housing trust fund” to aid the homeless with housing needs.

A similar proposal was made last year during the legislative session, but it didn’t go far. However, a new Task Force for the Study of the Homeless has started meeting and could push the trust fund idea again.

Arkansas, Pages 15 on 02/22/2008

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