12-10-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING December 10, 2018 it will be more than just words on paper and that it will be passed. I especially want to thank Councilmember Oliver Davis for his involvement. We are here tonight with some members of the community and advocates to request we have weather amnesty no later than November 1st and a permanent location for weather amnesty. It is a must. We can't go through, year after year, asking where we are going to put the homeless. Weather amnesty needs to be specifically weather related and not necessarily date related. Even before November 1st, and that should be the deadline, it was cold. We need to act upon the weather and not a specific date. Our homeless do not deserve to freeze. There were two (2) people last night turned away from weather amnesty. This was presented to me. You have a building where it's warm. People are eating. They can look through the glass doors, the approach, and they are told they are full at their fifty(50) capacity. These two (2) people, who were men, were turned away. What if it had been women? What if it had been a family with children? There should be no excuse that anyone must freeze. No one (1) should be turned away from weather amnesty. Our homeless deserve the same concerns for safety that we are often encouraged to use on our pets. We bring them inside when it is cold but we don't do it with our people. It is stated that the Center for the Homeless is considering doing away with their fifteen (15) spots for their weather amnesty. This has yet to be confirmed but we currently have sixty-five (65) spots for weather amnesty. If we lose those fifteen (15), we are going backwards and sixty-five (65) spots is what we had last year. Fifty(50)will not be sufficient when sixty-five (65)is not sufficient now. There will be colder nights where people will be turned away.Windchill is seventeen (17) or eighteen (18) degrees. When it is colder, do we just turn these people away, needlessly, to freeze? We ask the resolution meets total Council approval. It is cold out. Let's do what is necessary but also humane. Amanda Robinson, 702 North Hill Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I didn't come here for the homelessness issue,but I am definitely aware. I am a native of South Bend. I was born at Memorial Hospital and was raised here. Homelessness is an issue not just here in South Bend but around the whole world. I would love if we could be a model City so I can be proud of South Bend and where I come from. Like Councilmember Davis said, some of us are just a paycheck away from being homeless and that is so true. Definitely, things need to change, and we need to be a model. Very bluntly, I will say that leaving the homeless out there, it costs more than it would than to give them permanent housing. This issue is not the same for everyone. Some are addicts, some have mental health issues, and some are just on bad luck. But it is an issue. I would love if South Bend could do something about it instead of driving around and seeing these homeless people in the streets in this cold weather. It is really sad to see so I hope you can do something about it. Thank you. Rebecca Burton, 4991 North 475 East, Leesburg, IN, stated, I'm here because I come to South Bend a lot. I have a lot of friends and things I do in South Bend. Just a week ago, I was here for the protest outside this building in regard to this same issue. We were out there for only an hour and by the time we were done, my fingers and toes were numb and I was really cold. That was only an hour. These people are sleeping in this temperature. These people could be getting some serious health issue from sleeping in this kind of cold. I'm just trying to raise awareness that in just an hour, fingers and toes were going numb. Can you imagine what happens to these people when they are out there hours, nights and days at a time without any shelter? The other point I wanted to make too is in the past year we've seen signs in downtown South Bend discouraging panhandling. We've seen homeless people have their property taken from them under the bridges and places they congregate because it is the only place they can go. Instead of making these people feel like a burden on society, we need to make them feel valued, valid and important. That is why I support this. Jennifer Robinson, 3902 Greenmont Drive, stated, I am in favor of this and I hope you guys really look at this and make sure it passes, as well. I do think we had an improvement from last year. I do remember all the skids getting moved which I thought was inhumane to take away all their possessions. I hope you guys are really serious and pass it and don't just think the homeless are people who want to be out there because they really don't. There is some type of issue why they are out there. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to adopt Substitute Bill No. 18-74. Councilmember Karen White seconded this motion which carried by a roll call voice of nine (9) ayes. 19