[NEWS] Hub of Hope, Hub of Nope
From Al Dia News:
By now you may have heard about the Hub of Hope, a program headed by Project HOME that, for the last three years, has used a small space in the Suburban Station concourse to offer much-needed social services to the homeless. Hub did not open its mobile case management center underground this Monday as planned. Now, with near-zero temperatures and Code Blue in effect, there are only days left for the Hub to work out a deal with another landlord and seal their space for this winter — or else lose their necessary location.
Karen Orrick, the Hub of Hope coordinator, says that Project HOME has known for months about the leasing issue. The landlord who donated the space to them for three winters had received numerous complaints about the hundreds of homeless people in the concourse each day, and gave ample warning that this winter was likely a no-go for the Hub. Orrick and her team have been considering a number of contingency plans — a street-level model, a mobile RV model — but permits and permissions make any last-minute moves logistically troublesome.
In the meantime, Hub has partnered with the Arch Street United Methodist Church and a student-run shelter that offers beds for twenty men. Hub can offer its case management services from the church’s Arch Street location. If they don’t come to an agreement, this may be the permanent solution.
But that’s a win-win, right? The homeless still get their shelter and services; the commuters, the tax-paying denizens, the inbound tourists and the businesses at the concourse no longer have to deal with the homeless and the problems they bring.
Not quite.
