ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

ST. LOUIS — One of the region’s premier helpers of the homeless is looking to expand into far south city. But residents may not make room.

Leaders at Peter & Paul Community Services say moving from a 60-bed basement in Soulard to a church in Carondelet will allow them to house up to 100 men at a time and offer more services to help them get their lives on track.

But they need to rezone that church first, and rezoning takes support from a majority of the people who would be some of their closest neighbors. And a vocal group of those neighbors has lambasted the idea of putting the shelter in a residential area in recent community meetings, saying it will have criminals prowling the streets, investors fleeing and property values plummeting.

“Ask yourself if you would have purchased or rented your home if there was a shelter for 100-plus homeless men directly across the street, and be honest,� Aiden McNamara said at a recent community meeting. “I would not have taken the risk.�

The spat is a familiar one in the region’s ongoing struggle with homelessness. Advocates say they need more resources to get people off the streets and places to send them. But those places have to go somewhere, and residents and politicians are almost always wary.

“Nobody wants people who are seen as a blight,� said Anthony D’Agostino, CEO of St. Patrick Center, which works with thousands of homeless people every year.

Downtown residents complained for years about the Rev. Larry Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center on Locust Street, alleging it fostered loitering, public urination and drug dealing, among other things.

And when the city shut Rice down in 2017 and opened Biddle House in Carr Square, North Side politicians cried foul, saying the move promoted segregation.

More recently, when Mayor Tishaura O. Jones proposed setting up “intentional encampments� to get mental health and job training services to those resisting traditional shelters, 12 aldermen declared their wards off-limits.

Peter & Paul boasts of being an exception to the rule at its 40-year-old shelter in Soulard. Aldermen past and present hail their good work and professionalism. And CEO Steve Campbell said the organization, which also runs Biddle House and other facilities throughout the region, wants to be a cornerstone of Carondelet, too.

It makes sense for Peter & Paul. The Soulard shelter’s 60 bunk beds are crammed into just 5,000 square feet of space. There’s precious little room for case management, group meetings and other services clients could use. And it’s a nighttime shelter, so people have to leave in the morning.

Sts. Mary and Joseph Chapel, on Minnesota Avenue in the middle of working-class Carondelet, solves most of those problems. The church, , offers 25,000 square feet of space, enough to house 100 men as well as offices for caseworkers and room for groups to meet and learn life skills or talk about staying sober. There’s also a commercial kitchen, and outside, there’s plenty of parking and space for recreation.

“We want to do more than just provide people with a bed,� Adam Pearson, Peter & Paul’s operations chief, said at a recent meeting.

But neighbors worry they won’t share in the benefits.

McNamara, who lives on Minnesota Avenue near the old church, gave a presentation last week predicting the average home would be worth $50,000 less after the shelter moves in, and drew whoops and applause.

Others raised concerns about dozens of sex offenders coming into the neighborhood, and shelter residents stashing drugs in places where kids might play to get around sobriety restrictions. There was a question of why the shelter wasn’t in St. Louis County, or somewhere else in the city.

Peter & Paul officials pushed back on some issues. It won’t offer walk-in availability except in extreme conditions, so there shouldn’t be a bunch of people hanging out outside. And while the shelter does sometimes work with sex offenders, officials said their goal is to have clients onsite where they can work through the problems that landed them at the shelter in the first place. The shelter will also work hand-in-glove with local law enforcement, they said.

There were some at the meetings who were supportive.

Ivey March, who also lives close to the church, said she was initially skeptical of the proposal: She has a young daughter, and talk of sex offenders moving in nearby was frightening. But she said most abuse is between people who know each other. And she said the neighborhood shouldn’t shirk its responsibility to the homeless just because other areas do.

“Can we be the community that says it ends with us,� she asked, “and that we take care of our people whether they’re homeowners or renters or unhoused?�

Yusef Scoggin, who oversees the city’s human services department, also offered a vote of confidence.

Investment in people who are struggling is an asset to the community, he told residents at a recent meeting. “We revitalize: just as churches did, shelters do.�

But as of Thursday, Peter & Paul had just 15 signatures for its rezoning petition. They’ll need just over 80. And their agreement with the church gives them only until early May.

That deadline could be extended. But if it isn’t close, Campbell said, Peter & Paul will likely just have to look someplace else.

Perhaps in a more industrial area of Carondelet, he said.