Administrators at the Haven, who plan to build the shelter next to the organization's current homeless family facility on Hartford Avenue in White River Junction, filed an application for the facility with the town of Hartford, Vt., in July. The application will be debated at the Hartford Zoning Board on Nov. 7.
The new shelter is desperately needed, Sarah Sennot, development coordinator at the Haven, said. Over the past two and a half years, during which the shelter has been in its planning stages, the Haven has had to turn away 596 homeless adults seeking shelter.
The movement to stop the construction of the shelter is led by Phil Demers, a White River Junction resident who lives on Demers Avenue, about a block from the proposed site. Demers has asked local residents to sign a petition opposing the shelter's location, and also plans to write a letter of opposition to the local zoning board.
The adult shelter would ruin the neighborhood, Demers said, and would not be tolerated by residents in other Upper Valley towns.
"Would Hanover accept a shelter for adults?" Phil Demers asked rhetorically. "I can guarantee you that Norwich wouldn't either."
Sennott noted that the wealth of the surrounding community would provide an asset for the shelter.
"Over 70 percent of our revenue comes from individuals in this community, which is very rare for the type of organization we are." Sennott said. "If we didn't have wealth of surrounding communities we wouldn't be able to do work that we do."
Doris Grigel, a resident of Demers Avenue for about 60 years, said that she fears not only for herself and her neighbors, but also for families who stay at the shelter and must interact with its other residents.
"I think there are some who are legitimately homeless," Grigel said. "But a lot of them are drinkers or druggies and they will be walking around here all the time."
The Haven does good work, Grigel said, adding that she is not opposed to the family shelter that it runs. Grigel, however, said she is more wary of the individuals who would be attracted to an adult homeless shelter.
"There's jobs everywhere, there's work around here like you wouldn't believe," Grigel said. "So you have to ask, 'Why are they homeless?'"
Tom Ketteridge, managing director of the Haven, believes that the outcry over the expansion of the shelter is partly the result of a public perception of difference between homeless families and homeless individuals.
"Homeless individuals are seen as far more dangerous and prone to violence," Ketteridge said. "These ideas are based on stereotype and images found in the media."
Ketteridge added that he believes many who oppose the shelter have had little interaction with the homeless.
"My argument is that if you talk to the neighbors opposed, if you ask how many homeless people they know, they'll say zero," he added.
Opposition to the shelter just shows that people are scared of people they do not know, Ketteridge said.
"It is interesting how 50 years ago people were upset when black people moved into their neighborhood." Ketteridge said. "Now it's just poor people moving in. It's classism, not racism."
According to Dr. Eugene Bernal, who owns White River Family Eyecare and also serves on the Haven's Board of Directors, local businesses have not reacted unfavorably to the plan.
"The only negative comments we received were from small group of neighbors," Bernal said. "I have not heard of any negative comments from the business community."
This is not the first time that the Haven's plans for shelter construction have faced opposition. About two years ago, the organization hoped to house the shelter in a building previously occupied by the Gondola Deli in White River Junction. The plan was quashed when a nearby school raised concerns about its proximity to the shelter.
The Haven then applied to have the shelter built in West Lebanon, N.H. This plan fell through when the Lebanon Zoning Board voted to reject the Haven's application by a 3-2 margin. In explaining their decision, the board noted that the proposed plan would place a commercial building in a residential zone, Sennot said.
The planned shelter would house 24 adults, and would also provide meals and access to shelter advocates -- people who work with the homeless to help them attain housing, jobs and other life skills, Sennott said.
Ketteridge added that the shelter's White River Junction location would place it in proximity to several New Hampshire offices that provide aid to the poor.
Since the proposed site for the new shelter is located next to the Haven, homeless adults would also benefit from the staff and resources that facility offers, Sennot said, adding that a nearby bus line is yet another benefit of the proposed location.
