Showing posts with label Residents for Emergency Shelter (REST). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Residents for Emergency Shelter (REST). Show all posts

Updated: Homeless Get No Reconciliation at Epworth United Methodist Church, Chicago

UPDATE: Alderman Mary Ann Smith's efficient staff was kind enough to quickly provide The Bench with the correct link to the "Edgewater/Uptown Homeless Discussion" group at Yahoo! Click here to join the group. The Bench front page... CHICAGO - Alderman Mary Ann Smith, 48th Ward, included an update on the demise of the R.E.S.T. homeless shelter for men at the Epworth United Methodist Church in Edgewater (full text below.) Housed in the church's gymnasium at 5253 N. Kenmore Avenue, the shelter was Edgewater's only such refuge for men with no safe and warm place to sleep and get a meal. Ald. Smith is too polite to tell you this: Rev. Joseph A. Johnson, Pastor of Epworth United, has been working overtime to boot the homeless men out. Johnson is allegedly more interested in padding his congregation with nearby condo dwellers than in carrying out the mission of his supposedly Christian church. The sign out front calls Epworth "A Reconciling Congregation." What it is that the good pastor thinks he's reconciling is a mystery to mere mortals. One wonders how he will reconcile kicking homeless men to the street will be reconciled when St. Peter asks him why he should be admitted to Heaven. Standing right behind Johnson will be the four aldermen who flatly refused Smith's pleas to assist in finding another location for the R.E.S.T. shelter. They are: Joe Moore (49th Ward), Eugene Schulter (47th Ward), Helen Shiller (46th Ward) and Patrick O’Connor (40th Ward). The full text of Ald. Smith's update: Neighborhood Loses Shelter Beds The plan to relocate the R.E.S.T. men's shelter, which had been located at Epworth Baptist Church, to the former Pasteur Restaurant building has fallen through. Inner Voice, the not-for-profit agency that administers the management contracts with R.E.S.T. and other homeless shelter providers for the City of Chicago, evaluated the site at 5525 N. Broadway and decided the location would not be suitable for a temporary shelter. Alderman Smith's office explored every viable option suggested in the 48th Ward. Because of their concern for the people who would be displaced, and despite the financial challenges involved with housing the shelter, Epworth Church shelter has compassionately agreed to allow the shelter to remain housed in their facility location until January 2, 2009. Although there are discussions underway regarding other possible sites for the shelter, these locations are not in the 48th Ward. Whatever the outcome, the potential loss of shelter beds will have consequences for both the homeless and the community. As a neighborhood, there may be more men sleeping in our parks, alleys and vestibules. For the homeless, the result of being without shelter during a Chicago winter can be disastrous. The challenges this presents will be met in three ways: 1. Over the next few weeks, the City's Department of Human Services (DHS) will expand the number of beds at other locations. A van will be stationed at Peoples Church on Lawrence at Sheridan. This is a location where, for years, men who need a place to sleep for the night have gone to be assigned to a bed. When the shelter at PeoplesChurch is at capacity, the van will transport men to other facilities -- if they are willing to go. They will be strongly encouraged to do so. 2. DHS also is committed to having staff repeatedly visit the homeless who are sleeping outdoors during the winter to try to convince them to accept help and go to an indoor shelter. 3. Alderman Smith's office will work to ensure that relevant laws, such as the 11 p.m. park closing, are enforced and to have boxes, mattresses and clutter removed from the alleys. This is not heartless; it is essential. If the options of sleeping in a cardboard box in an alley or under a tree in the park are not available, the homeless may be more willing to accept the invitation to go to an indoor shelter and get the help and resources available from DHS and other agencies. At the November 48th Ward Zoning and Planning Committee meeting, delegates and guests spoke about the need to provide for the homeless and how this is a long-term problem that must be addressed with realistic, compassionate long-term solutions. Alderman Smith's office has begun working with advocacy and constituent groups to develop such solutions and will report back to the community through Zoning and Planning and via this newsletter. If you would like to be part of this working group, please e-mail Doug Fraser, chief of staff, doug@masmith48.org. In addition, we have created a Yahoo Groups forum to enable people to express their opinions about the issue, and connect those who have the ideas and energy to work toward solutions on a local level. You can join the group here. [UPDATE: Alderman Smith's efficient staff was kind enough to quickly provide The Bench with the correct link to the Edgewater/Uptown Homeless Discussion group at Yahoo!] You can also contact the good Rev. Joseph A. Johnson here: Epworth United Methodist Church 5253 N. Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 561-6422 epworthchicago@gmail.com RELATED: Shelter's Fate Hangs In Balance (News-Star) The Bench: UPDATED: Homeless Shelter On Endangered List The Bench: R.E.S.T. STOPPED: CHICAGO ALDERMEN DENY HOMELESS SHELTER

R.E.S.T. STOPPED: CHICAGO ALDERMEN DENY HOMELESS SHELTER

EXCLUSIVE - THE BENCH - Four aldermen on Chicago's north side flatly refused another alderman's pleas to help find space for an endangered homeless shelter. The men's shelter in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood will be shut down on December 1 and evicted from the church that has housed it for 25 years. The City of Chicago said it would pay for a temporary space for the shelter until May 1, 2009. The problem, however, is that nobody is willing to open any space for the shelter, operated by Residents for Emergency Shelter (REST), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. REST operates a number of shelters in Chicago (contact info below). The one that will be shut down has been at the Epworth United Methodist Church at 5253 N. Kenmore (at Berwyn) in Uptown for 25 years. The shelter is in Edgewater, in Alderman Mary Ann Smith's 48th Ward. Smith reached out to fellow aldermen in neighboring wards and pleaded by phone with them to find space for the REST shelter in their wards until May 1st. All of them were staunch supporters of Barack Obama. Each refused to help. All are Democrats. Each professes to care about the homeless. They are: Alderman Joe Moore (49th Ward) Alderman Eugene Schulter (47th Ward) Helen Shiller (46th Ward) Patrick O’Connor (40th Ward) Alderman Smith held a meeting to discuss the future of the REST shelter on Wednesday night, October 29. It was a standing room only crowd. See the story at News-Star. More Photos: REST CONTACT INFORMATION Administrative Offices: 941 W. Lawrence Avenue, Fourth Floor, Chicago Postal Correspondence: P.O. Box 408307, Chicago IL 60640 Phone: (773) 784-0909 Fax: (773) 784-1087 E-mail: info@restweb.org RELATED: Homeless Shelter On Endangered List Ald. Smith's Urgent Plea