Letter to the Editor: Homeless shelter vote: Facts and experience should outweigh fear and misinformation

Last Monday, Dover City Council once again rejected an effort to rezone property that might be accessible to those assisted by the Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing. What was sought was the opportunity for affordable housing — something that is in desperately short supply in the area.

The vote of five in favor and four opposed was not the “supermajority” of seven votes needed in light of a petition submitted against the effort. Two local business owners engaged an aggressive attorney to conduct a campaign of fear and misinformation that was sufficient to counter experience, reason and a proven record of success. It is unfortunate that the strong opinions of a few can outweigh both facts and the experience of many.

For nearly 13 years, the Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing has provided shelter and assistance to approximately 3,000 homeless men. Case management includes women who are homeless or in perilous circumstances and yields a high rate of success for all clients. More than 70% of shelter residents secure employment and contribute more than $3 million in wages in the local economy each year. Annually, more than 200 individuals are assisted to regain productive and purposeful lives.

These shelter residents are not the derelicts and addicts who opponents coached in fear and ignorance perceive them to be. Some are, indeed, past sex offenders: They have been accused of such “crimes” as sexual relations with an underage woman or public urination. Serial pedophiles and rapists are incarcerated for long periods and do not reflect the shelter population. Delaware’s large sex-offender registry includes residents of virtually every neighborhood.

Hundreds of community residents from dozens of faith communities and organizations have come into the Dover Interfaith shelter over the years to provide and serve meals and to volunteer in various ways. Not one has ever been harassed, stolen from or treated in a way that was not positive and rewarding. Most volunteers are women.

Will the city of Dover choose to make decisions based on fear, misinformation and assertions that are not based on fact? Or will City Council collaborate with us on finding a solution out of recognition that a valuable service is being provided?

The Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing already manages housing for 58 men outside the shelter, with no complaints from neighbors or crimes committed. It cooperates with the Probation and Parole office to ensure that those on the sex-offender registry live in permitted locations. Not a single crime has been committed by a resident of the shelter or housing beyond probation violations, such as exceeding curfew.

The shelter and its case-management efforts transform the lives of the homeless who seek a better life. Those looking for affordable housing have full-time employment at Dover Downs, Bayhealth, Safeway, Proctor & Gamble, Energizer/Playtex, Baltimore Aircoil, Kraft, IHOP and other local businesses. Most earn $12 to $16 hourly. Perhaps they sound more like your neighbors than those you think of as homeless. They are able to pay rent in the housing proposed.

It is true that some homeless individuals are addicts, while others choose criminal behavior over personal responsibility. They do not want to comply with rules and expectations of the shelter and do not reside there. Dover Interfaith has no legal authority to make them choose to participate in our program or to live in the shelter.

Both a shelter and affordable housing are needed. City Council just rejected an opportunity for affordable rental housing in the downtown area. Dover Interfaith seeks to develop a shelter at a different location.

The Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing shelter has a lease that expires at the end of the calendar year. Does City Council prefer to have more people on the street, struggling to meet their basic needs by panhandling and sleeping in doorways, or will it work to find a solution?

Jeanine Kleimo

Chair, Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing

Rep. Lyndon D. Yearick, R-Magnolia

The Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos, minister, Unitarian Universalists of Central Delaware

The Rev. Amy D. Yarnall, senior pastor, Wesley United Methodist Church, Dover

Jon Rania, lay ministry associate, Christ Episcopal Church, Dover; co-convenor of Kent Ecumenical Food & Crisis Fund

Patty Hartmannsgruber, Dover

David Ingalls, pastor, Orchard United Methodist Church, Magnolia

The Rev. Charles S. Weiss, rector, Christ Episcopal Church

John Berry, maintenance manager, Dover Interfaith Mission

Mary Lynn Houghtaling, retired college instructor and volunteer, Dover Interfaith Resource Center

Ennio Emmanuel, president, Code Purple Kent County; chaplain, Maranatha Life Changing Church

The Rev. Dr. G. Derrick Hodge, pastor, People’s Church of Dover; director, People’s Community Center

Vincent F. Pisano, deacon, Church of the Holy Cross, Dover

The Rev. Valerie A. Strickert, pastor, St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Dover

Karen Speakman, executive director, NCALL

Pastor Will Grimes, Solid Rock Baptist Church, Dover

The Rev. Dr. Charles E. Ransdell Jr., pastor, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Dover

Kathy Lessard, Kent Ecumenical Food & Crisis Fund and Holy Cross Samaritans

Jerry Emerson, Dover

Judy Worley and Sue Mears , Presbyterian Church of Dover

Yolande Jackson, Unitarian Universalists of Central Delaware

Donald Mears, Unitarian Universalists of Central Delaware

Bishop Nelson Lewis, Mount Carmel Church of the Living God, Dover

Bishop W. James Thomas II, D.Min., senior pastor, Calvary Baptist Church; general overseer and presiding prelate, Apostolic Covenant of Churches International

Tom Worley, Presbyterian Church, Dover

Julie Price, Unitarian Universalists of Central Delaware

Mary Dawn Ditty, Outreach Committee, Wyoming United Methodist Church

The Rev. Ellis B. Louden, presiding elder, Dover District-Delaware Conference of Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, Dover

Marie Emmons, Baha’i community

Linda Sabo, Dover

Dr. Peter Oldziey, president, Peter A. Oldziey & Associates

Dr. Stephen Hailey

Brett Emmons, financial adviser, Peter A. Oldziey & Associates

Judy Oldziey, owner, JudyO Life Coach

Vicky Cairns, Presbyterian Church of Dover

Brother Peter-Joseph Avitabile, CSC MA MSW LMSW DE/NY SIFI, The Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas

George W. Bockius Jr., Wesley United Methodist Church

Dr. Jay Valorie Hailey, Dover

Dave Callahan, director, NCALL Loan Fund

Charles Knox, Mary and Armando Herrera, Presbyterian Church of Dover

Steven Halstead, Presbyterian Church of Dover Mission Committee

Max Flaxman, Member, Congregation Beth Sholom

Jessie Green, Rev. Michael Morgan and Co-pastor Rev. Sharon Morgan , Mt. Friendship AME Church