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BIG CITY: Neighborly suggestions

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Staff

By Kirk Ross

Nice to see the Inter-Faith Council’s Good Neighbor plan clear the council. Took a while and we learned a lot.

And although it failed, 5-2, the move to put a date certain on the IFC’s exit from the old municipal building was instructive.

It reminds us that there are two really large steps ahead for our community.

The first is making sure there is an emergency shelter or a rotating network of shelters, similar perhaps to the network that existed before the establishment of the Rosemary Street facility. The new Community House on Homestead Road was designed to transition its residence out of homelessness, while an emergency shelters treats its symptoms. They are vastly different endeavors. Certainly, there will be times when Community House will be pressed into service as an emergency shelter, but that should only occur under extraordinary circumstances.

One of the problems with the Rosemary Street site was that too many services and the mix of people they served were packed under one roof. To do what it’s supposed to do, the new Community House needs that distinction between a transitional shelter and an emergency shelter not to blur.

The community also deserves action on the assurance that a solution to the emergency-shelter question is on the way.

To that end, let me suggest that the town, IFC and other interested entities in Orange County expedite the conversation on an emergency shelter or shelter network.

You’re welcome. I look forward to reading about it.

The other item still unresolved in the transition of our community’s response to homelessness and poverty is what happens to the other big part of the Rosemary Street location – the community kitchen.

It’s no secret that the IFC plans to consolidate all of its food operations into a brand-new building that will be located roughly on the site now occupied by the IFC offices and food pantry on Main Street in Carrboro. For just as long as this idea has been around, there’s been strong opposition to it from a variety of merchants, along with apprehension about the forthcoming application from a variety of members of town government.

But just like the emergency-shelter issues, we should look at how long it took to conduct a full, community-wide review of the Community House and try to imagine doing something on that order for a project in downtown Carrboro.

The focus of the new facility will be food – not just feeding people through a community kitchen but increasing food security throughout our area through the IFC’s food bank.

This focus on food in a single location allows for better coordination in addressing hunger and nutrition needs, and Carrboro, which prides itself on its food culture, should welcome it with open arms.

The design for the new building has been in the works for years. It promises to be as green a building as Carrboro demands and a modern, much more functional space to replace the one currently on the lot. The upgrade to the site on such a key stretch of Main Street should have a positive impact on downtown’s traffic flow, considering the tie-ups caused by getting in and out of the current lot.

There’s no doubt that as much as it makes sense, when the request to build the new building comes in to the town there will be a huge ruckus raised by opponents. There’ll be valid and informative points raised; but as we saw in the shelter discussion, we’ll likely hear the same kind of stereotypes used in the fight against the shelter applied to the folks coming downtown for a meal or those dropping in to get a bag of groceries.

That’s why we need to get this discussion rolling and not wait until, say, after the next municipal election cycle. So let me suggest to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the IFC that the conversation about this new consolidated kitchen and pantry, the need for it and the impact on Carrboro’s downtown get started out in the open, and soon.

You’re welcome. I look forward to reading about it.

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