Michael Olesker, The Examiner
2008-05-08 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

In Baltimore County, the homeless will just have to find some new place to sleep. A doorway maybe, or some nice spot beneath a bridge. Yeah, the children will like that. They can lull themselves to sleep each night to the soothing sounds of 18-wheelers backfiring just above their little heads.

That’s the dispiriting news about Sarah’s Hope today. They’re closing the Franklin Square Boulevard homeless shelter June 30. The Examiner published a few pieces about Sarah’s Hope last winter because it touched the heart how so many people — men, women, lots of children, families devastated by the cruel, modern economy — found a temporary home of such warmth and caring in a difficult season.

The shelter wasn’t fancy. About 150 people at a time could stay there. They shared three residential areas and most slept on mats on the floor, though a few had cots they’d brought from places where they’d previously lived.

As you walked around the shelter, you saw no slackers. There were women sitting on folding chairs with thousand-yard stares. How would they get everyone through such an awful time? There were men sitting with children on their laps, looking humiliated because they thought they had let their families down. They were white and black, and some still had jobs. But the jobs didn’t pay enough to keep up with the rent.

And there were dozens of kids all over the place.

For as long as they needed it, Sarah’s Hope offered the tiniest bit of security in their lives. They knew they’d have a few meals each day and a warm place to sleep. The shelter was run by St. Vincent de Paul since 2002, part of a cooperative effort by 50 religious congregations of different denominations to look after those in trouble — a place, said Executive Director John Schiavone, “built upon principles of true collaboration with the faith community.”

The other day, though, Schiavone sent a letter informing everyone that the end is near. Sarah’s Hope closes at the end of June. This follows months of administrative tension that, in a sane world, should have nothing to do with the simple act of giving shelter to people in need.

“The Baltimore County Office of Community Conservation has elected not to renew its contract with St. Vincent de Paul,” Schiavone wrote. The county owns the building that houses Sarah’s Hope, and expects control over operations. St. Vincent de Paul says it should run the place.

Sarah’s Hope was supported by about $365,000 in various government funding — added to by about $235,000 in individual, church and foundation funding, plus about $400,000 a year of in-kind funding.

The results were pretty inspiring: A range of services beyond “a mat and a meal.” There were parenting and life-skills classes, pre-school activities, health workshops, job counseling, housing seminars, clothing distribution, summer camp through the Camp St. Vincent de Paul program. And there were services to help people get back to permanent housing.

In his letter, Schiavone wrote, “We designed a plan for bunk beds that met the county’s occupancy goals, and even raised all of the necessary funds — in excess of $100,000. Despite these efforts, it took almost a year for the county to respond by painting the walls, making other needed repairs, and securing the small amount of additional space necessary to implement our bunk bed plan.

“We were just about to begin installing bunk beds and furnishing the children’s room when we received word of [the county’s] reversal of direction and termination of our contract. … You may be wondering why,” Schiavone wrote. “So are we.”

Historically, Baltimore County has seen itself as boss of the shelter, and hired a year-to-year contractor to operate the place. This was never what St. Vincent de Paul had in mind.

“It may have been acceptable to previous shelter providers,” said Schiavone, “but it doesn’t allow for investment, ownership and collaboration with others in the provision of services, and it is not how we operate at St. Vincent de Paul.”

In other words, while the county expected more direct control over operations, Schiavone thought this limited his ability to make decisions, to establish policies and procedures. Compromise was not easy. County officials were not happy. Then came their decision to terminate.

So Schiavone has scheduled a May 15 meeting, 6 p.m. at Trinity Church on Allegheny Avenue in Towson, for eleventh-hour efforts to save Sarah’s Hope.

Either that, or the homeless will have to look elsewhere. Maybe some nice abandoned house. Or a doorway somewhere. Or beneath some bridge with the trucks rumbling overhead.