Homeless Shelter to Continue Operations

The Samaritan Center, the city’s only daytime homeless shelter, will continue operating under an agreement reached with St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal, which owns the property.

Church officials, contending the center was months behind on rent, took control of the site during Thanksgiving week.

Under the new agreement, made public at the City Council meeting Monday night, the center would continue to provide a mailing address, meals, showers and laundry facilities for an estimated 150 homeless people each day.

Ken Constable, the Samaritan Center’s chief executive officer, had denounced the church’s decision to take control of the facility. But at the Monday meeting he and the Rev. Julia Christian of St Francis of Assisi Episcopal addressed the council together.

“We have confidence we will secure the necessary amount of funds to continue providing the services of the Samaritan Center,” Constable said.

In addition to other services, the center coordinates the program that provides overnight shelter for the homeless at city churches.

The agreement calls for the center to pay its rent for October through December and hasten efforts to collect funds to pay rent through the end of 1999.

The center’s board also will be expanded from eight to 15 members, with the church gaining a second nonvoting member. Although an agreement is in place, bitter feelings remain. Nonetheless, Constable and Christian sought to cast the agreement in the best possible light.

“We’re very optimistic that with a new board and new vision . . . that they will become a lot stronger and better at fund-raising,” Christian said.