Board pulls brake on homeless shelter plan

Listen to the planning and zoning board meeting.

Hayesville may not be getting a new homeless shelter for women if the town council takes the advice of the local planning and zoning board.

The council voted unanimously not to recommend a zoning ordinance exception to allow the women’s center in the central business district downtown.

New Life Women’s Center’s Executive Director Brenda Cormack and representatives from Reach, the county’s existing shelter, were present March 9 to answer questions from the board.

The board decided that the shelter’s placement is inconsistent with the commercial district around the courthouse.

“The land use plan is not law, it’s a guide,” Zoning Administrator George Schaaf told the board, noting that there’s no obligation to follow the plan.

The board was concerned that an increasing homeless population in downtown Hayesville would not contribute to local commerce revenues.

“These women will be shopping,” Cormack said. “Monies will be coming into local businesses.”

The Reach shelter was established before zoning regulations took place.

The house under consideration for the new shelter was important because of its location within walking distance of downtown, Cormack said.

“Most homeless individuals, you want to get them as close as possible so there’s conveniences for them,” she said. “There won’t be any loitering or congregating around the front of the building.”

Cormack said she looked for a suitable location for a year and a half, but had to settle on something close to Hayesville.

“From past experience I know that law enforcement is not going to drive 25 minutes” to take someone to a shelter, she said. “I have had my eye on that house for a long time.”

The house belongs to Truett Memorial church, which originally purchased it for use as a children’s shelter, Cormack said. However, the church found a larger location, so Cormack said she thought the building was already approved.

“I never thought that it would not be approved by the city,” she said. “I never dreamed that that would be a problem.”

When a story about the new shelter first hit local newspapers, calls for help started flowing in, Cormack said.

“We have a house that’s in place and I have women who are living out by creeks in tents,” she said. “Is this something that’s needed? I say yes. There’s nothing like it in a 50-mile radius.”

The board expressed concern that the new shelter might simply be a duplication of services already offered by Reach.

“I think it’s great that [Reach is] here,” Cormack said. “When it was established domestic violence was a huge issue.”

In recent times, the economic situation has created a bigger need for the homeless, Cormack said, promising that she’ll network with other regional agencies to work together.

While the board noted that Murphy’s homeless shelter is struggling to secure grants, Cormack said she was able to tap into a strong grant writer she worked with previously in Florida.

While the shelter is currently built to house eight women, Cormack said she is considering doubling the possible number of occupants in the future.

Clay County’s director of social services, Debbie Mauney, said her department works hard to prevent homelessness.

As a former Reach board member, she said that the shelter has never turned down women and children. Homeless people who enter Clay County are entitled to public assistance, she stated.

Board chairperson John Miller said he was concerned about whether government money spent on such programs would stay in the county.

Because most counseling and mental health services for the homeless take place out-of-county, in-county circulation of funds can’t be guaranteed, Mauney said.

The board was concerned that due to the county’s relatively low population, an extra shelter might compete with grant funding for Reach.

“These people are going to need mental health, they’re going to need substance abuse services… we have none here,” Betty Smith, chairperson of the Reach board and transportation director, said. “Right now we’re barely hanging on;… I’d love to take care of everybody but we barely have enough for Clay County.”

Reach member Amanda Patterson said that her current shelter could hold up to ten people but that in her five years of employment, the shelter has never been full.

“Ninety-two percent of all homeless women have been abused at some point in time. That’s only an eight percent gap, so we try to take everybody,” she said.

Reach previously maintained a 30-day stay limit, but as the economy worsened, the stay limit has been dropped, Patterson said.

“We’ve had to relieve the limit as long as the women are attempting to find employment,” she said. “I personally don’t see a difference. Ours has a domestic violence title and their’s doesn’t.”

While Reach aims only to house the Clay County homeless, the New Life Women’s Shelter would operate for people from multiple counties.

“I don’t want this to impact and cause problems on the county,” Cormack said. “Any of us sitting at this table could be homeless tomorrow. We’re just a paycheck away.”

Cormack said she wouldn’t compete with county transportation funding as her shelter aims to purchase its own bus.

“Monies brought into the area will benefit the county,” she said. “I’m not here to drain the county.”

The planning and zoning board’s report will be reviewed by town council in April.