A dying wish granted

Hwei-Ling Greeney, Reikka Simula Gooden: Committee on Homelessness

So in spite of the Amherst Select Board terminating with extreme prejudice the Committee on Homelessness, their influence advocating for the downtrodden living lives of voiceless desperation on the streets of Amherst continues to reverberate, like one of those more subtle east coast earthquakes.

The committee had recommended to town officials the shelter needs to open by November 1st, so a Request For Quotes needs to be issued by September 1st, and the town needs to chose a provider by October 1. All to better meet the needs of the homeless.

Those deadlines have all been met with Friday's announcement that Craig's Doors was awarded the $101,000 contract to run the Homeless Shelter, located in the basement of the First Baptist Church at the gateway to UMass.

That too was a recommendation of the Committee on Homelessness to the Select Board; their dying wish so to speak. At their final meeting (September 8) before SB termination (September 12) the committee voted unanimously to recommend Craig's Doors, the only entity who responded to the RFQ, with two members--Laura Quinn and Kevin Noonan--former members of the now defunct Amherst Committee on Homelessness.

Indeed a case where the good they did was not interred with their bones.

First Baptist Church

Too much advocacy?

Hwei-Ling Greeney: passionate advocate for the homeless

The Committee on Homelessness put up a fiesty defense tonight against the Select Board idea of merging them into a new entity more closely resembling the current Housing Partnership Fair Housing Committee, mainly because they are too passionate about advocating for the needs of the homeless.

Hwei-Ling Greeney, Chair of the Committee on Homelessness pointed out that the Housing Partnership has been in existence for almost 30 years and did nothing for the homeless. Ms. Greeney also observed that individual Select Board members did not show up this past winter at the shelter to drop off food or play cards with guests, yet now they are making this momentous decision impacting the shelter.

When Milestone Ministries announced last week they would not renew their contract to run the homeless shelter this coming season, partly because of "micromanaging" by the Committee on Homelessness, the Select Board took direct aim at legislating the committee out of existence. Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe called Milestone's decision "A serious step backwards."

A charge Ms. Greeney said "scapegoated" her committee.

Homeless advocate Kevin Noonan said Town Meeting can be "contentious" yet nobody talks about merging them with the Select Board. He also noted that Pastor Desroches of Milestone Ministries mentioned the "micromanaging" issue almost as an aside rather than a major game changer.

The town has secured $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for the upcoming season to operate the shelter and Ms Greeney said she knew of five organizations that would respond to a town Request For Proposals and be ready to open the shelter November 1.

Had any of the homeless attended tonight's meeting to observe the one hour "discussion" they probably would have felt elated that town government is fighting over them so passionately.

Kevin Noonan called the "vilification" of the Committee on Homelessness "disturbing"