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HomeMy WebLinkAboutUNITED WAY HOUSING SERVICES DAY CENTER - PDP - 30-06 - MEDIA - CORRESPONDENCEThe Coloradoan - www.coloradnan.com - Ft. Collins, CO. Page 3 of 3 the clientele using the center will most likely not be troublemakers, but people who need help to get out of their situation. "Most homeless are not dangerous," Thibedeau said. "Most are surviving, at best." While United Way of Larimer County already owns the land, it has not begun the public planning process required to begin construction. Thibedeau said they are awaiting the completion of a fundraising campaign before beginning the process. Brown said whenever there is a chance, he will be there to fight. "If they have a meeting, then we will attend," Brown said. Originally published December 6, 2005 Print this articEe _L:' Email this to a friend C!IL— Subscribe Now Contact Lis I Subscribe I Place an ad Copyright ©2005 The Fort Collins Coloradoan. Q) "*A All rights reserved. I MA 70M Users of this site agree to the wFfxFr."� GAi Xom Terms of Service and Privacy Percy - (Terms updated 7/20/05) http://www. coloradoan. comlappslpbcs.dll/article?AID=1200512061NE W S0115120603 08l... 12/06/2005 The Coloradoan - www.coloradoan.com - Ft. Collins, CO. Page 2 of 3 "Homelessness is not the problem," Thibedeau said. "Usually, it's a factor of other circumstances." Job loss, drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues are key factors that tend to lead to homelessness. The building will house a day shelter to bring people out of the cold and provide a centralized place for health and education services. It will be a place for people to come and work with a case manager who will, hopefully, help them to get back on their feet. But people need to be willing to help themselves, Thibedeau said. "It's going to be focused on services, not a shelter," he said. "If you are not going to participate, there is no place for you." The building, which the United Way hopes to start building in early 2006 and finish by the end of the year, is not without controversy. Safety issues and declining property values worry residents of the Greenbriar subdivision, just blocks away from the proposed site of the center, said Bob Brown, president of the neighborhood homeowners association. "The people in the area, we are sympathetic to the problem," Brown said. But there is a concern that when it closes in the evening, patrons of the center will fan out into the area, including into the large Greenbriar park and into streets were children play. "The most vocal issue is the safety issue," Brown said Brown also points to a collection of other service buildings in the area, including a food bank and subsidized health services. "I don't thing there is a single person not sympathetic to the problem, but it is just too much in one area," he said. Adding a homeless assistance building would drive down property values of the homes in the subdivision, Brown maintained. Safety measures such as a police officer stationed at the facility would be necessary, he said. Thibedeau said the proposed center is based on a similar plan used in Boulder, and that community has yet to report adverse effects of the center. Safety and property value concerns are legitimate, Thibedeau conceded, but http://www. coloradoan.comlappslpbcs.dll/article?AID=1200512061NE W S0115120603 081... 12/06/2005 The Coloradoan - www.coloradoan.com - Ft. Collins, CO. Pagel of 3 Welcome to The Coloradoan Ft. Collins, CO. Customer ! coloradoan.com Weather Jobs Cars Homes Apartments Shopping Classifieds Dati Home News Local News Archives News Tips Sports CSU Zone Obituaries Nation/World Celebrations Opinion Business Lifestyles Photo Galleries YES — Your Style Columnists Extra Technology Weather l: 7 days (_ Archive F_ Homeless center worries neighbors By NIKOLAUS OLSEN NikOisen@coloradoan.com The homeless and those on the verge of being homeless need help to get their lives together. A proposed day center in North Fort Collins aims to just that. But those who live nearby wonder what effects it will have on their lives. When the United Way of Larimer County builds a 10,000-square-foot facility at Conifer Street and Blue Spruce Drive, it will be there to help people who find themselves homeless, or on the brink of homelessness, said Gordan Thibedeau, executive director of the nonprofit organization's local chapter. Entertainment A formal plan for the building will be submitted to the city after the organization has all the Windsor Beacon funds needed to build it, but Thibedeau said the Communities project will likely get under way sometime during 2006. Directories Health The center will work to help stabilize a person's situation, but it will not simply be a place for the Advertising chronically homeless to hang out, he said. Customer Service "The vast majority of homeless in this community are not chronically homeless," Thibedeau said. He called them the "near -homeless" and "the wADVERTISEMENT w hidden homeless." ' They are people facing eviction, moving from the couch of one friend to another every couple of days, and many are children. ADVERTISEMENT The United Way estimates about 500 of Poudre School District students fall into this homeless category. The average age of a homeless person in this community is 12, he said. ADVERTISEMENT W By the nun • 20 to 3C • Estimat, • Service! services foi programs Related n Latest heat _�.catiu� Powered by http://www.coloradoan.comlappslpbcs.dlllarticle?AID=1200512061NEW S011512060308l... 12/06/2005