ICCA, food bank move to Ashland St.
The Interfaith Care Community of Ashland celebrated its new home in the Handyman building on Ashland Street Friday night with live music, finger food and an opportunity to see the facility that will open on Monday.
The ICCA, which provides emergency services to homeless and low income people, and the Ashland Emergency Food Bank, which provides food boxes for low-income people, will both open shop in their new location at 2200 Ashland Street next week in a building bought for this purpose by former Ashland Mayor Alan DeBoer.
The ICCA will also operate a thrift store at the new location starting next week, and DeBoer hopes to eventually develop transitional housing on a yet-to-be built second and third floor of the facility.
"It's coming along great," DeBoer said on Friday at the party. He added that the transitional housing is still a "long way off," as it still needs a backer for the project and city planning approval.
In addition to the thrift store, which the ICCA will use to help finance their emergency services, the organization will offer the same kind of services it did at its former location on Second Street — showers, coffee, computers and career services. But there will be some significant changes to the operation, said Sharon Schreiber, executive director of the ICCA.
"We'll still have emergency services," she said. "But this isn't going to be a hang out place any more. You have to have a purpose to be here."
Whereas in the old location people using the services were allowed to congregate there during their downtime, the new location will be more strict about loitering.
Schreiber said people will need to make appointments for use of services and must have a legitimate use for them.
"We want to work with families and individuals who sincerely want to become part of the community," she said. "Not people who are just looking for a community to subsidize their lifestyle."
Though many of the ICCA clients are happy with the new location, as well as the brand new facilities, some were also disappointed about the new rules that will prevent people from hanging out.
"It's physically lovely," said Carrie Black, who uses the ICCA services when she can't afford a physical address. "But I don't think it's what the homeless people need. Especially in the cold weather (the new rules) are going to be rough."
Black also said the location is not as ideal as was the downtown location. "The bad thing is the location," she said. "It's very isolated. It's a long walk and a lot of people don't have money for the bus."
Some neighbors of the Handyman building have already expressed concern about the addition of a facility for homeless people, Schreiber said their presence will actually bring a normalizing presence to the area. She said people used to camp and hang out at the site when it was deserted, but now that it is occupied that won't happen.
"We really believe we will bring attention to that problem," she said. "The people who choose to be homeless will go away. We want to be part of the solution not part of the problem."
Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x. 226 or bplain@dailytidings.com
