The June 21 article detailing the plan to replace the Oxford Street Shelter with a shelter on city-owned land at the Barron Center campus on Brighton Avenue concerns me a great deal.
In 2015, my wife and I moved to Nason’s Corner and settled into a neighborhood where we hope to raise our family in an environment that celebrates diversity and acceptance. This environment is the biggest attribute to our new school. Children in this neighborhood learn from exceptional teachers and build friendships based on the acceptance of differences from their peers. Hall Elementary School and the new Amanda C. Rowe Elementary School have and will continue to create this enriching environment, but I fear the impact of the proposed shelter.
I have seen and read of the effects the current services have had on the Bayside neighborhood. The proposed site for the new shelter is a quarter-mile away from the cornerstones of the new school. While I sympathize with the residents of Bayside, I cannot think of a worse place for a comprehensive homeless shelter. The state and taxpayers of Portland just paid for a beautiful neighborhood school, and I see no need to introduce a potentially volatile and perhaps hostile population to such a thriving and improving community.
Portland consistently strives to meet our society’s challenges. We accept differences and support those in need. This includes anyone whose rights are undercut, refugees and the homeless. Portland is a refuge and it should be.
The homeless population can and should be cared for at one facility. However, I cannot support a plan that brings such a facility and its potential impact to our neighborhood and its new school. There must be some other property to help those in need of shelter that isn’t adjacent to those in need of a safe learning environment.
Dylan Ney
Portland
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