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EXPANDED SALEM SHELTER ADDS EDUCATION PROGRAMS
by Steven A. Rosenberg, The Boston Globe - Globe North
July 24, 2005

SALEM - Since the Salem Mission opened 22 years ago on Crombie Street, the North Shore's only 24-hour homeless shelter has offered its guests, food, clothing, and a place to sleep. When the shelter moves to the former St. Mary's church complex on Wednesday, the organization will take on a new goal providing increased social services and educational programs with the intent of ending homelessness in the city.

"We want to realistically prepare people for jobs that are available," said Paul Styzcko, the shelter's interim director. Educational programs are at the heart of the shelter's new focus, which calls for guests to enroll in computer, equivalency diploma, and food preparation classes taught by staff and volunteers. Each participant will be assigned a staff advocate, who will prepare a plan that fits the person's goals.

Shelter officials say the cramped conditions at the Crombie Street shelter didn't allow for educational programs to take place. The 34-bed shelter, which expands to 54 beds during the winter months, has been filled every night since 1986. In the basement of the shelter, men and women are separated by a partition, and beds are located just inches apart.

Staff, social workers, and medical professionals shuffle between the two tiny offices to work with the homeless. The dining room fills to capacity three times a day, serving 275 meals. Space in the shelter's food pantry, which serves 600 families every month, is also tight.

This week, the shelter's guests will take up residence in a former youth center that was once part of St. Mary's church, on Margin Street, a third of a mile from the existing shelter. The Archdiocese of Boston closed the brick and marble church in 2003, and last year sold the parish, youth center, rectory and a nearby apartment building to the shelter for $2 million. Also last year, the shelter's parent organization, the Open Door United Church of Christ, began holding services in the former Catholic church.

Work on the site began seven months ago, beginning with an $800,000 project to transform the old youth center into a shelter. The mission also plans to spend another $2 million to reconfigure the rectory and apartment buildings into 22 single rooms for people who were formerly homeless.

"We are transitional and we want people to move to independent living," said Andrew Oliver, who serves as chairman of the Salem Mission. Oliver said $2 million of the $5 million needed to acquire and renovate the campus has been subsidized by state and federal funds. The rest of the project will be funded through private donations, said Oliver, a former investment banker.

When shelter guests arrive at their new residence this week, they will find gleaming hardwood floors on the first level, where a new dining room, day room, kitchen, classroom, and several offices will be located. Downstairs, women will have private quarters for the first time in the shelter's history, with a room that will hold 12 beds. The men's dormitory will sleep 22, and there's ample room on the floor to accommodate the extra 20 people who live in the shelter during the winter months. Also, the food pantry has expanded to a 500-square-foot area, and has been set up like a supermarket, so people can choose their own food.

When the shelter bought the former church, emotions ran high over the future use of the property. After the sale was announced, 150 residents near St. Mary's voiced their opposition to the sale at a public meeting, which prompted City Councilor Jean Pelletier of Ward 3 to form a task force for homelessness.

During the last year, the task force met several times to address neighbors' concerns about potential problems, such as loitering, public drinking, and substance abuse. Pelletier, who represents the ward where the new shelter stands, said shelter representatives attended the meetings and have promised to be responsive to neighborhood concerns.

"I honestly believe that the shelter is going to work well there. They have a bigger facility, they have more room for educational services and social services, and they have two apartment buildings that will put people out of the shelter, and back into the working community," he said.

Bill Legault, who lives near the new shelter and also served on the task force, said one of his main concerns was keeping guests who do not enroll in courses from loitering downtown. "Let's be honest here. Most working people out there, and property owners, consider those people undesirable. It's a fact," he said.

But Bonnie Henry, who has lived near the Crombie Street shelter for 20 years, doesn't think the move will affect the neighborhood.

"We have actually not had any problems with people from the mission," said Henry. "There's been some folks who have slept in the bushes across from the house but as far as feeling that we're in a dangerous position or anything like that, I've never felt that way."

Oliver, the shelter's board chairman, said the staff would continue its policy of not allowing guests to use alcohol or drugs, and said an 8 p.m. curfew would be enforced. He also said guests would not be allowed to loiter in the neighborhood. "We don't know all of the things that are going to happen when we move in and we're not claiming that we can be perfect," said Oliver. "What we're saying is we want to be good neighbors."

Steven A. Rosenberg can be reached at rosenberg@globe.com.

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