Public Watchdog.org

In Support Of NIMBYs

05.05.08

Tonight (May 5, 2008) at 6:30 p.m. at the Park Ridge City Hall (505 Butler Place), the City Council will hold a “Special PADS Workshop Meeting.” As you can see from the agenda [pdf], the Council is apparently planning to pack 80 minutes of workshop into the allotted hour prior to the Council’s 7:30 meeting, so wear your running shoes if you plan to attend.  And attend you should if you’re concerned with the prospect of transient homeless from other communities being imported into Park Ridge.

In a previous article on the proposed PADS shelter in Park Ridge (“In Praise Of NIMBYs,” April 21), we thanked the St. Mary’s Episcopal neighbors for bringing this PADS business squarely to our attention. Now we take the next step and say that we support them in their battle against a PADS shelter in their neighborhood – or anywhere else in Park Ridge, for that matter. After attending the recent Council and community meetings and analyzing the facts and figures provided on the Journeys from PADS to Hope website, we conclude that the PADS program is, at best, a weak half-measure that appears to be generally ineffective in actually combating homelessness, especially given the amount of money and volunteer resources it consumes – a conclusion amply supported by the following “Results” from that website:

OUR RESULTS During the 2006-2007 season, Journeys from PADS to HOPE served over 670 guests through the HOPE Center (1140 E. Northwest Highway) and the 18 faith-based PADS sites throughout the Northwest Suburbs. The HOPE Center received over 6,193 visits from people requesting services, while the PADS sites provided 12,149 overnight stays and 36,447 meals throughout the season. Through the combined efforts of our volunteers and staff, we were successful in transitioning 39 clients out of homelessness and 309 clients in the past 6 PADS seasons out of an emotionally degrading life and into one of hope and independence, giving clients a much needed sense of belonging.

Taking a page from “The Emperor’s New Clothes” playbook, if the best these PADS and HOPE Center people can produce from “12,149 overnight stays” and “36,447 meals” is getting “39 clients out of homelessness,” then it’s time for them to consider a new line of work – because that’s the kind of insipid performance that gets you fired in the real world.

Given such lackluster results, if anybody was looking to open a homeless shelter solely for documented Park Ridge residents they would be well-advised to steer clear of the PADS model altogether. So why is anybody seriously considering that same PADS model for a facility that looks to attract non-Park Ridge homeless – with whatever drug, alcohol and mental illness problems they might have – to our community?  We could rent a block of rooms at the Comfort Inn on Touhy and put them up there – at less cost and without the demand on volunteer time.

This fiasco also lowers our opinion of the Park Ridge Ministerial Association even further. After concealing their PADS shelter plans from the St. Mary’s neighbors and the rest of the community for the better part of two years before arrogantly foisting it on us as a “done deal,” and then attempting to intimidate and even ridicule anyone who opposes it, the PRMA members have acted more like venal politicians than faith ministers – unless they really view the “shepherd” metaphor literally and consider their congregations as nothing more than sheep to be herded in whatever direction these “shepherds” decide.

And while they can call this PADS shelter their “ministry” all they want, there’s nothing religiously ministerial about it. It’s nothing more than a chain of secular not-for-profit flophouses funded by such non-religious entities as the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), the Illinois Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and tax dollars from Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Mt. Prospect, Palatine, Schaumburg, and their respective township governments.

In summary, this PADS shelter is not a religious ministry; it will contribute nothing positive to our community; and it will consume resources that could be better used for our own citizens and our existing institutions (like the Center of Concern). It’s a dumb idea whose time should never come.

And those responsible for coming up with it and trying to jam it down our throats should be ashamed of themselves. But for some reason we doubt that these neo-Pharisees and their camp followers will see it that way.

4 comments so far

Good point on the results. But why should anybody expect more from a program like this, which is just a string of places to flop for people who just go from one town to another depending on what flophouse is open that night?

How did this become a religious ministry? Our church’s parishioners were never consulted on it.

Anonymous on 05.05.08 11:42 am,

Because the religious leaders said so. Isn’t that the way everything works in those little faith-filled fiefdoms? Er…I mean, parishes?

Praise the (divinely inspired?) Founding Fathers for giving us the treasured legacy of separation of church and state.

At least the Catholic priests might be able to claim derivative infallibility from the Pope (who got his start toward Popedom as a 14 year old member of the Hitler Youth), but that doesn’t work for the other denominations – especially the Lutherans, since Luther didn’t buy into infallibility in the first place.

But they all claim to be God’s servants, so who can argue with them. Kind of like those “ayatolyah so” mullahs in Iran.



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