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happens in their neighborhood and
said he was impressed.
“Please keep an open mind,” he
said. “We don’t want this to be an is
sue in your community.”
Then he launched into an expla
nation of how the homeless would be
screened. They will apply through
something called the Coordinated En
try System and must have a history of
being homeless for three years.
He said the Coordinated Entry Sys
tem did a vulnerability assessment to
see who would qualify.
“Once they are housed they become
residents in an apartment building.”
They would receive permanent
supportive housing. Services would be
provided to them on site by therapists,
counselors, medical personnel and
case workers.
“People would be placed on need,”
he said. He said there would be no sex
offenders or violent persons placed in
Harper’s Joy.
Another board member, Katherine
Thurber, tried to talk to the crowd
by telling them how passionate all
the board members were about the
homeless.
But she was interrupted by the
crowd had been told their questions
they turned in on index cards would
be answered. They were getting rest
less to get to their questions.
Then board member Linda Heagy
tried telling the crowd that she under
stood their concern about their prop
erty values.
“This (Harper’s Joy) is the wrong
place,” someone shouted. “You need
to place them where they can get jobs
like near the mall or a commercial
area.”
Clark again attempted to intervene
and said, “Most non profit services are
located within the city. Services are
driven within the city and that’s why
we have a large homeless population
in Brunswick.”
Then Heagy said it cost $40,000 per
year to care for one homeless person.
An audience member asked where
she was getting her numbers, and
when she said Mecklenberg County
N.C., (Charlotte) the audience dis
solved into laughter and shouted her
down.
Heagy continued saying it would
cost about $12,000 per year to house a
person at Harper’s Joy and bring the
services to them. She also said the res
idents chosen for Harper’s Joy would
have either social security or disabil
ity income and that 30% of their in
come would go toward their rent.
She said HUD or DCA would make
up the difference and pay for some of
the social services.
At this point the crowd began to
shout out their questions.
Lance Sabee, who was trying to
conduct the meeting, suggested that
Hand in Hand discuss other locations
under consideration.
Stembler said, “We didn’t target
this neighborhood. We looked at sev
eral places and worked with a real es
tate agent.”
Someone shouted, “Did you look at
Sea Island?”
“No,” Stembler replied.
Another question: “Who was the
real estate agent?”
She would not disclose that
information.
She said that when they found out
the Harper’s Joy location was for sale,
they looked at it and decided it was
perfect.
“It has 24 apartments,” she said.
Audience question: “What’s the
exit strategy for Harper’s Joy current
residents?”
Note: Harper’s Joy has been a resi
dence home for handicapped adults
for many years.
Clark said he did not know what
the exit strategy for the current resi
dents was.
Audience question: “What is your
funding source. There is no detail to
your plan.”
Stembler said their plan was mod
eled on the successful homeless com
munity in Charlotte, N.C., Moore
Place. “Property values around Moore
Place tripled,” she said.
Apparently audience members
had done some research. Someone
shouted, “It is not successful. It has
brought in more people than the area
can support.”
Stembler said, “While we are not
looking for another location. This is
not a done deal. Our due diligence is
up in three weeks.”
Someone shouted: ‘We need to show
up at a City Commission meeting.”
Audience question: ‘What about
security?”
According to the hand out: a se
curity guard with no gun will be on
premises 24/7, 365 days a year. A di
rector of operations will be on duty 20
hours a week to oversee services to the
residents.
Someone shouted, “What is Gate
way doing to help the homeless?”
David Crews, CFO of Gateway, said
that the current residents of Harper’s
Joy are aging and need more services.
“They are being moved into group
homes. Eight have already been
moved. Gateway doesn’t have the abil
ity to operate Harper’s Joy.”
Audience question: “How did
Harper’s Joy come on the market.
Isn’t state money involved?”
According to Glynn County tax
records Harper’s Joy is owned by a
private 501c3 non-profit, Distinctive
Housing Solutions, Inc.
Audience question: “Have you done
an impact study on the neighborhood
or a long term feasibility study on the
financial commitment to maintain
Harper’s Joy?”
Heagy said no neighborhood impact
study had been done.
She did say that Hand in Hand is
collecting private money. “$3 million
will be raised and rehabbing the build
ing will take most of that money. We
want to preserve it as a landmark.”
Then she said Hand in Hand would
develop a second building on the prop
erty, or nearby, that would provide a
large meeting room for the community
as well as the residents of the home.
Space could be used for AA meet
ings, tutoring, girl / boy scouts; GED
classes, cooking classes, nutrition, or
exercise.
This brought loud laughter from
the audience.
July 29, 2019, The Islander, Page 5
Crowd questions and Hand in Hand
answers continued: • yes to alcohol
in the apartments; • no to overnight
guests for residents.
Then someone in the audience
raised the zoning question; is the
property zoned properly for a home
less shelter use.
The Islander spoke with Brenn
Daiss, the City’s Planning, Zoning,
Building and Codes Director, who
confirmed that a conditional use per
mit had ever been issued for Harper’s
Joy to operate as a facility for handi
capped adults.
Daiss said probably because Gate
way, which is a state agency, was
managing the facility.
However, to operate a homeless
shelter, a conditional use permit would
be necessary, Daiss said. So Hand in
Hand would have to go through the
permitting process.
Daiss said she did speak with
Hand in Hand representatives last
Thursday, July 26 and told them that
Turn to Page 8
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