The mission is the oldest social service provider in the district having provided services the districts most needy for over 120 years. They cared for homeless & abandoned children in the district long before the district implemented foster care services. The mission helped the district’s most vulnerable survive the great depression, including the those newly unemployed and/or homeless as a result of the crash.

To the best of my knowledge, the mission’s lease on the property on 14th St. has expired.

All of this is to say that the mission is NOT attempting a bait-and-switch with their property on Georgia Ave.

The Central Union Mission has earned its reputation as a trustworthy and respectable private charity!

This debate/public hearing ought to be conducted in such a way that acknowledges the mission’s history of selfless service to the district, regardless of one’s position on the development of the Georgia Ave property.

Perhaps we, as residents of the district, ought to be a bit more concerned that the ACLU believes it prudent to force the city counsel to spend public funds defending private charity to the homeless!

That said, it doesn’t seem that the Mission’s current location stopped development from happening along 14th Street…

Where are the people being serviced coming from?

It’s very tempting to turn this into the old-”Do the homeless DESERVE social services?”-debate. But, as is apparent from the years upon years that that argument has been raging, I think if there’s anything we can all agree on, it’s that no one is likely to win that argument any time soon.

It’s important to recognize that a number of the people who might be helped by this, are ALREADY in your backyard.

The question is, are the people of Petworth being saddled with a burden, or relieved of one? If the majority of people serviced spend much of their time in the surrounding area already, I would envisage a reduction of crime. Likewise, if the majority come from outside of the area, I suspect crime is likely to increase.

So perhaps, through negotiation, there is some balance that can be struck by balancing the needs of the city to help the city’s homeless population, with the needs of Petworth’s local indigent population, which will result in a negligible change in the crime rate.

Mixed use with 100% affordable low to moderate income housing, and 3,576 square feet of office space that will be used by the mission and/or possibly a third party. This housing will consist of 37 units (21 one bedroom, 10 2 bedroom, and 1 3 bedroom).

You can’t fit 180 men in 37 units. Not humanely.

So, your argument is now that poor people get to all live together and that’s fine as long as they’re not in the neighborhood where you live, because it might keep it from “progressing.” I’m glad we boiled it down.

Let’s think about this. 80 beds means 80 maximum extra people in the neighborhood at any given time. So what if they’re down on their luck? I bet we’d never notice much of a difference, except for fewer people freezing their butts off at night outside.