HUNTINGTON 人妖色情片 While Huntington City Mission Executive Director Mitch Webb said he won人妖色情片檛 relocate the facility人妖色情片檚 low-barrier shelter, the nonprofit人妖色情片檚 board will discuss the possibility of canceling the project altogether.
Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell, who began his term Jan. 1, said in a video Friday, Jan. 17, he has a goal of moving the City Mission人妖色情片檚 low-barrier shelter to a new location outside of the central business district.
A low-barrier shelter is a homeless shelter that has minimal entry requirements and is designed to be accessible and inclusive. These shelters aim to reduce barriers to entry so that people experiencing homelessness can more easily access resources.
Low-barrier shelters are targeted to unsheltered individuals who, for whatever reason, cannot or will not enter the mission due to not meeting its requirements, suffering from substance use disorder, or severe mental illness.
The Mission has run low-barrier shelter services in its chapel since 2020; however, Webb said construction of an official low-barrier shelter has been in the works for the past four years.
The Mission broke ground for the new low-barrier shelter in November, and it is now under construction.
人妖色情片淲e are not looking to relocate it,人妖色情片 Webb said Monday. 人妖色情片淲e have got a piece of property that we bought specifically for that. It would be right here on our property so that people would be able to have food and everything here.
人妖色情片淚f it is a matter of having to move it, then we would just likely not be in that business at all. We人妖色情片檒l probably just move on and do something else.人妖色情片
Webb said he and the City Mission人妖色情片檚 board are in talks about terminating the construction on the project, for which the Mission has already spent around $250,000.
人妖色情片淲e are just a little disappointed,人妖色情片 Webb said. 人妖色情片淲e were so far down the road on this thing. We have footers poured and all the permits and fought through all those fights and now there is a good chance that the building is not going to be built. But you know we move on and try not to cry over spilled milk and move on and focus on something else.人妖色情片
Farrell said his goal to relocate the low-barrier shelter outside of Huntington人妖色情片檚 central business district is a part of his plan to make Huntington a 人妖色情片渧ibrant, safe and welcoming community.人妖色情片
He said his main priority is public safety, which is jeopardized by drugs and the growing problem of people experiencing homelessness and the way those issues intertwine.
人妖色情片淓ach makes the other worse in some ways and so that人妖色情片檚 an issue,人妖色情片 Farrell said.
Farrell said he supports the Mission and its decades of service to the community; however, he questioned its decision to open the chapel as a low-barrier shelter year-round.
人妖色情片淚t doesn人妖色情片檛 seem like the right location to put those kind of services,人妖色情片 Farrell said. 人妖色情片淭he City Mission is directly between Ritter Park and Pullman Plaza 人妖色情片 it人妖色情片檚 in the middle of our central business district and it人妖色情片檚 my opinion that there are better locations to offer those kind of services.人妖色情片
Because the City Mission is a private nonprofit, the city cannot force it to relocate the low-barrier shelter, but Farrell said he has told it and its board that the City of Huntington would not partner with the Mission on the project moving forward if it人妖色情片檚 not relocated to what the City deems to be a better location.
人妖色情片淚 told their board and their director that if they want to continue to partner with the city on efforts 人妖色情片 I think those services should be offered in some other location outside of our central business district,人妖色情片 Farrell said.
Farrell said he does not have a specific location in mind yet.
He said his goal is to move it to a place that is still accessible for people experiencing homelessness, but one that doesn人妖色情片檛 disrupt restaurants, businesses, shopping or residents.
人妖色情片淭he location would have to be somewhere that人妖色情片檚 accessible to the clients. It would have to be safe for the staff to be able to operate there in a place that人妖色情片檚 not going to cause disruption when the transient population comes and goes to businesses or residents,人妖色情片 Farrell said.
If construction on the new low-barrier is stopped, Webb said the chapel will no longer be used in that capacity either.
人妖色情片淲e have put forth every effort here for four years to do this,人妖色情片 Webb said. 人妖色情片淲e have put the money in place, (the) time into it.人妖色情片
The planned building, set to cost $1.85 million, was to contain cots, bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities, as well as office space for community partners to provide health and behavioral health care, an observation room and a medical exam room. Outside, construction plans called for a bike rack and a fenced courtyard to protect clients, Webb said in November.
If the Mission does stop construction, Webb said any leftover money would go toward its regular day-to-day operations, upgrades to the existing Mission building and anything else that is needed. Next winter, staff would work to get as many people into the Mission as possible.
Even if the city could find a suitable location for the low-barrier shelter, Webb said it would be too expensive to have appropriate staffing off-site. The low-barrier shelter currently has two staff members at a time.
人妖色情片淲e move it off-site, we are going to have people out on an island, and I just really am not comfortable doing that,人妖色情片 Webb said. 人妖色情片淚f the mayor wants to do it off-site, then more power to him, but you know they人妖色情片檒l probably have to figure out how to staff it.人妖色情片
The City of Huntington allocated approximately $1 million for the construction of the low-barrier shelter under former Mayor Steve Williams人妖色情片 administration. Webb said the Mission received $30,000 a month for staffing. Other grant partnerships with the city have been allocated for the low-barrier shelter operations/staffing, he said.
Webb said Farrell has been upfront with his goal of moving the low-barrier shelter.
人妖色情片淗e人妖色情片檚 asked for opinions and asked for direction on it and even if I don人妖色情片檛 agree with what it is that he wants to do, I have to say that at the very least he has put some time in and tried to understand the problem, so I appreciate that,人妖色情片 Webb said.
Farrell said he would work to ensure a proposed new location would not affect businesses or neighborhoods, but would still be safe for staff. He said he plans to work with the Cabell-Huntington-Wayne Continuum of Care, a group of the nonprofits that advocate for and give resources to people experiencing homelessness, to determine a location and operation times for a low-barrier shelter.
Farrell said discussions with the Mission about relocating the low-barrier shelter were to resume after the cold snap of January ended, in order to keep people safe during last month人妖色情片檚 snowstorms and frigid temperatures.
人妖色情片淭hese are all people that are names, not numbers. They人妖色情片檝e clearly experienced some kind of trauma in their life and they are people and we need to treat them as people,人妖色情片 Farrell said. 人妖色情片淭here are people that are living in our city, whether they are housed or unhoused, they人妖色情片檙e still people that are living in our city actively and I人妖色情片檓 their mayor too. And I need to find a way that I can make sure that they人妖色情片檙e safe and can get the resources they need 人妖色情片 the help they need all the same time that the rest of the community isn人妖色情片檛 burdened because of what we人妖色情片檝e created.人妖色情片
