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Afraid of Unhoused People ‘Migrating’ to Carondelet, Residents Oppose Shelter | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

March 15, 2023

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click to enlarge Monica Obradovic Peter & Paul Community Services want to open a homeless shelter in the former Saints Mary and Joseph Chapel in Carondelet.

A nonprofit that wants to convert a vacant Carondelet church into a shelter for homeless men faces a lofty hurdle — getting the Carondelet community on board.

Carondelet residents have largely opposed Peter & Paul Community Service’s plan to house 100 single men in the former Saints Mary and Joseph Chapel off Minnesota in a residential area.

Peter & Paul, which runs the city-owned Biddle Housing Opportunity Center, wants to close its Soulard shelter and open a new, larger shelter in the Carondelet church.

CEO Steve Campbell said the larger space would allow Peter & Paul to house more people during virus outbreaks. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Soulard shelter went from 60 beds to 20 to reduce transmission risk.

“Part of our goal is to not have to reduce our numbers when the next variant comes along or, God forbid, the next pandemic,” Campbell told the RFT.

The proposed emergency shelter in Carondelet would house 100 beds, provide 24-7 care, counseling and employ caseworkers to transition residents to permanent housing.

Peter & Paul need 82 signatures, or 51 percent approval, from registered voters in the immediate area surrounding the former church in order to rezone . As of Monday afternoon, the nonprofit has collected only 11.

If recent public meetings are any indication, getting majority approval won’t be easy.

Residents have packed into the Carondelet Library for public meetings in the past week to oppose the shelter. As Peter & Paul higher-ups sat behind a table on a stage, residents aired their concerns.

Some residents thought the shelter would plummet home values or lure sex offenders to their community. Others worried about open substance abuse and finding drug paraphernalia in the streets.

“We are risking our community, we are risking our neighborhood, our homes, our safety and the safety of our children,” Aiden McNamara said.

McNamara said he lives directly across the street from the proposed shelter, and voiced his opposition Thursday through a 10-minute slideshow presentation, which ended to applause and whistles from the crowd.

“We’re not against giving a person a second chance,” McNamara said. “But we’re talking about unknown, convicted felons being brought to our neighborhood to live.”

One resident was concerned the shelter would cause people experiencing homelessness to “migrate” to the Carondelet area.

But the shelter, according to Peter & Paul Chief Operating Officer Adam Pearson, would operate on a referral basis only. Walk-ins would only be allowed during extreme weather conditions.

Most Carondelet residents who spoke at recent public meetings agreed St. Louis has a homelessness and housing problem. Shelter beds are often in scarce supply in the city, particularly during winter months.

Still, they don’t want a shelter in their backyard.

Campbell said his nonprofit considered several locations for their new shelter, even some in the county, but chose Carondelet because the neighborhood seemed welcoming at first.

Former Alderwoman Phyllis Young, who represented Soulard and parts of downtown for 30 years, stood up for Peter & Paul at a meeting last night.

“They’ve been good neighbors,” Young said.

Peter & Paul has been running homeless services for the past 40 years. The nonprofit opened its shelter in Soulard in 1981 after an unhoused man froze to death in the neighborhood.

Forty years later, unhoused people still die from the cold. At least five people froze to death in the winter of 2020-2021, according to a St. Louis Public Radio investigation.

“We usually struggle with having enough beds in St. Louis,” Campbell said. “If you know anything about the 211 system, it can take a number of days of continual calling before you can get a shelter bed somewhere.”

Peter & Paul doesn’t have much time to sway Carondelet residents and gather enough signatures.

Its sale contract allows the nonprofit 90 days to work through any contingencies, part of which is zoning, according to Campbell. The 90-period ends in early May.Coming soon: Riverfront Times Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting St. Louis stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

8 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

8 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

8 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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