The Collin County Observer

Homeless shelter director says need must trump Plano residents' opposition

Saturday, July 24, 2010
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

There's no room at the Samaritan Inn.

Collin County's only homeless shelter has 130 beds but needs many more, said Director Lynne Sipiora.

With the economic downtown, the shelter must turn away people day after day.

"That's the worst part," Sipiora said. "It keeps me up at night."

The shelter's solution to overcrowding: Open a second facility in Plano.

But some Plano residents and business owners immediately assailed the Samaritan Inn's proposal, announced this month, for a larger shelter near 14th Street and Shiloh Road.

Opponents charge it would lower property values and increase crime.

"This is the last thing that the east side of Plano needs," one person commented online.

Sipiora expected the opposition but isn't backing down.

If the Plano City Council rejects a zoning change to allow the proposed shelter, the Samaritan Inn will look for another site in town because of the need, she said.

"As long as I'm around, we'll be looking to expand services," Sipiora said.

She rejects the assertion that the proposed shelter, to be built in phases over several years, would harm the largely commercial east Plano neighborhood.

She points to the Samaritan Inn's track record in McKinney?. It opened in a commercial area near State Highway 5 and U.S. Highway 380 in 1984 and hasn't driven up the crime rate, said McKinney? Deputy Police Chief Scott Brewer.

"These are folks who are just in hard times," he said. "They're grateful. They're not typically going to get out and partake in criminal activity."

'No frills'

The shelter operates out of a converted nursing home, with five wings extending like spokes from a central monitoring station. Two wings house families, one houses men, one women and one administrative offices.

Sipiora compares the shelter to a college dormitory in terms of sights, sounds and feel. Having visited, I agree.

Each room is identical, about 16 feet square, with four bunk beds, a sink and a toilet. Common showers are in each wing. Meals are served on long folding tables.

"No frills," she said.

True, but the shelter is a huge improvement for some residents.

One woman had been living with her three young children in a mini-warehouse unit.

"I can't imagine," Sipiora said.

Other residents have been sleeping on the street or in their cars.

"They arrive shell-shocked," Sipiora said. "We're the last resort."

The Samaritan Inn produced a searing video of interviews with residents, describing their journey. It's posted on the shelter's website, www.thesamaritaninn.org.

"I never thought in a million years I'd end up in a shelter," one woman said. "I have a college degree."

Rules enforced

The Samaritan Inn has strict rules for residents. Each must undergo a drug test and criminal background check, take mandatory classes on budgeting and parenting, meet twice weekly with a caseworker and look for a job during the day.

The average length of stay is about six months. Someone leaves, or "graduates," when they have a full-time job and have saved enough money to rent a place.

Sipiora said the proposed Plano shelter also would stress personal responsibility and push people toward self-sufficiency. It wouldn't be a place for the chronically homeless to crash for a few nights.

"I'm hoping it's a matter of education," she said. "I want to believe people will see the need and respond to it."

link to this article at The Dallas Morning News.....