10-22-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING October 22, 2018 Edward Levy, 316 South Eddy Street, South Bend, IN, stated, In clear heart, I could never go against something like this. I am in favor of it. But, if you've been there in the evening and I don't know if any of you have driven by the property during the day or evening,there are people camping out there and it is a mess. I have a tenant who wants out of his lease because he is scared to death. So I am asking, because I am in favor of this, that Hope Ministries and the City of South Bend supply security for the area twenty-four seven (24/7) of some kind because tenants in that whole area are scared to death to be there. I know it is only a six (6) month period but I can't keep a tenant in my building because they come and go in the evening and he is just scared to death because there are people wandering around. So unless there is security there, you will have issues. There needs to be clean up. I'm not against this as long there is someone there to watch them as well as watch the property owners around there and protect their interests,too. Steve Camilleri, 813 South Michigan Street, South Bend,IN, stated,I just want to speak in support of our best partner, Hope Ministries. As the largest provider of homeless services in our community, the Center for the Homeless is just across the street from 121 East Tutt Street. There are already two hundred (200) people in our community who live at the Center for the Homeless who experience homelessness. I see it every day and I think this isn't just a response to people under the bridge. This is a response to our neighbors and friends in our community who experience homelessness. It snowed on Saturday night. I don't know everybody in this room so I don't know if anyone in this room experienced homelessness on Saturday night, but I know people at the concert were really cold. Imagine you did not have a place to go back to. I am so thrilled that the City is presenting this opportunity for upwards of fifty (50)people in this community. By the way, that is not enough. We have more people who are on the streets in South Bend. We saw people all over the community over the past several years.They were visibly under the bridge but they existed and experienced homelessness before that bridge ever happened.This has been a long time coining and there are no other agencies right now besides Hope Ministries and the Center for the Homeless who are providing Weather Amnesty. It is unfortunate that we have to. We needed Weather Amnesty this past Saturday night. I just want to speak out in support of this as a provider because I've been receiving many questions from people in the community who ask about this being permanent. This is needed. Quite frankly, I feel for these people. I don't know what they must do. The trauma they experience not knowing if this is going to pass or not would be hard to live with. I really hope this is voted on unanimously. It is something our community needs. I'm so grateful to David Vanderveen and Hope Ministries for stepping up when this City and our community needs this. Thank you. Jesse Davis,P.O.Box 10205, South Bend,IN,stated,Obviously everyone is mentioning the bridge and we know there was a tent city constructed under there to bring awareness to the community because we've had this homelessness issue for years. It has kind of been out of sight and out of mind. So the tents were to provide a little more shelter to these people who didn't really have anywhere to go as well as a little bit of privacy. The main reason was to bring awareness because when people drove down Main Street, underneath that bridge they saw those red and white tents and they realized there were people living out there basically all winter long. I'm glad they found a place. I hope in the long run we find a more permanent place. I know we have had issues getting community members behind this Gateway Center that they want to put together but I think this is a good temporary fix. Personally, I am still concerned. They are there from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. What happens between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on those days when it is below zero (0)? They can't be in that building so we are only covering half of the realm here. They will be downtown and you'll see them at the library. You'll see them in businesses. During the daytime,they are still freezing outside while we are in our warm offices, homes and cars. Samuel Brown, 222 East Navarre Street, South Bend, IN, stated, The homeless issue still plagues our community. We, the community, have got to nail this on the head. We are fortunate to have somewhere to go. We,as the community of South Bend,do some wonderful things.I want to make this clear to everybody. We, as a community, have got to get this nailed on the head. We are counting on you who were elected to govern our City and make sound decisions for our City. I don't know the answers because I'm not that smart but there are bright people here. We have to get this homeless thing under control. I know it is hard. There are medical issues and a lot of other things that go with it but we would be very proud if you, the leaders of our community elected by the public to make sound decisions, knock this thing out of the park. I know it's difficult but we