Homeless shelter, child care center proposed

Shelbyville's city council is being asked for a zoning change and permission to use a building on North Main Street for a volunteer-run homeless shelter and child care center.

Dr. Carl Bailey, who spearheads the county's Emergency Management Agency Avian Flu preparedness program and its shelter program, asked the council for the zoning change so that four trailers can be placed behind a house at 262 North Main St., which is owned jointly by the city and county.

Bailey provided council members with his proposal for Community Religious Outreach Social Services (CROSS), which he says would help people get back on their feet.

The property is one acre and the building would not change except for a new paint job, Bailey said. Access to the property is off North Jefferson Street. The building is currently not habitable. CROSS is also in the process of being registered as a non-profit organization.

The trailers have been surpluses by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after being cleared after a recent formaldehyde scare, Bailey told the council. The trailers would be used for the homeless or disaster victims.

Bailey has already spoken to some county officials about the proposal and will soon provide them a full presentation about CROSS. The full county commission has already turned down Baliey's first request and councilman Lee Roy Cunningham said he has heard from some business owners who say that they do not want the facility on North Main.

Bailey said his proposal had already been made to the county's property committee and was forwarded to the full commission with a favorable recommendation, "but it somehow got lost in the shuffle and all they heard was I wanted to put a homeless shelter and trailers on North Main Street. I wouldn't want that either," Bailey said.

Since moving here from California, Bailey said he became aware of the poverty level in the county and the need of those caught in the situation. "I don't propose in any way 'a soft services' facility," Bailey said, such as anger management or parenting classes. Instead, Bailey wants CROSS to meet immediate needs, such as shelter.

"I know of 30 families in this county right now who are homeless," Bailey said. "They are living on the street, in cars, in motels at the expense of churches, and they quickly run out of the ability to pay $40 or $50 dollars a night."

The facility would provide interim, short-term shelter, so that people can get back on their feet, off the poverty rolls and back to work.

The basement would be dedicated to a community pantry, and an office would be dedicated to a cultural integration office to help the county's minority community, such as Hispanics and Somali refugees.

"If you think that Bedford County is going to grow with just white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, I think you're mistaken," Bailey said. "We will grow with diversity and different cultures. We need to effectively integrate them into the community."

Bailey also said that he spoke with the deputy director of Tennessee's Department of Children Services, who told him that if the cost of taking care of children of single-parent families could be done away with, it would take care of about 40 percent of those at the poverty level in Bedford County.

A surplus portable classroom from the school system has been located that could be used for child care while the parents go to work. Bailey said that CROSS is not trying to compete with all the child care facilities in the county, which charge $90 per child a week or $120 for two kids.

"A single person working at a low income job ... can't pay that, because they'd have nothing left to eat," Bailey said. "So they choose not to work and stay on welfare and be their own child care. We want to break that cycle." Bailey said the child care would be $25 to $50 a week.

Also planned is a ride to work program, Bailey said. He said he's been getting "very positive support" from the pastors of area churches for the idea, who have already promised the donations of vehicles and volunteers.

Bailey also stressed that he was not trying to supplant any existing organization, but just wants to meet immediate housing needs, food and clothing, and employment help. Bailey said according to Tyson's human resource manager, there are currently 95 jobs open at the poultry processing plant.

"We can put 95 people who are on welfare to work," Bailey said. "But they need a way to get there and a place to stay."