Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon met yesterday with members of a community group north of Little Italy who said they felt angry and "ambushed" over the city's decision to open a homeless shelter in their neighborhood tomorrow.
Dixon and eight members of her senior staff tried to reassure the Albemarle Square Community that the shelter for 275 people in an empty city-owned building at 1001 E. Fayette St. would only be open for up to 90 days.
Then the former check processing center, located across from the city's main post office, will be occupied by the 250 professional employees of the Baltimore Health Department, which is moving its headquarters from 210 Guilford Ave. near City Hall, Dixon said.
"Keep in mind, we are not talking about moving this [homeless shelter] here permanently," Dixon told the crowd of about 100 people in the basement of Velleggia's restaurant in Little Italy. "My goal is to not have people out on the street panhandling. ... It's only by the grace of God that we have roofs over our heads."
Karen Fowler, a homeowner in the Albemarle Square Community, said she worried about crime with the homeless shelter opening up. "We have no idea if these people are sex offenders," Fowler said. "We have children living in the neighborhood. We all took risks buying in this neighborhood, and nobody's helping us with this."
Dixon apologized to the community group for the late notice. But she said the temporary location of the shelter is necessary, as the city closes another short-term shelter in an old school at 1600 Guilford Ave. that the community wanted shut. That winter shelter, which has been taking in about 300 people a night, is being transformed into a charter school.
Three privately run homeless shelters closed last year, in part because of funding cuts from charities. These closures left hundreds of people sleeping on the streets, including in a tent city under the Jones Falls Expressway. The city has been trying to find temporary housing for these people. And its long-term plan is to turn a city Transportation Department building at 620 Fallsway, near the state prison complex, into a permanent shelter by November 2009.
But this $6 million project is more than a year away from completion, said Diane Glauber, president of Baltimore Homeless Services, which is part of the mayor's office. And in the interim, the city will have to find another temporary shelter for next winter, Glauber said.
