Money woes could close Hope shelter

By Seth Rosen

Published: March 27, 2008

After spending the night in Hope Community Center, more than 50 homeless people met Tuesday morning with employment counselors to craft resumes and get advice on finding a job.
Since a local winter shelter closed earlier this month, the community center, on 11th Street Northwest, has been inundated with men, women and children looking for a cot and a warm meal.
“They are in transition in life. They want to do better, but they need a place to call home,” said Josh Bare, who runs the center’s homeless shelter on behalf of his father, Harold L. Bare, a pastor at Covenant Church.
“If we are a ‘world-class’ city, we need to help people get their lives back together.”
But in a few weeks the center may no longer be able to house the homeless, forcing them out onto Charlottesville’s streets and parks.
The center’s operators are being squeezed from two sides. After keeping the shelter afloat with thousands of dollars from their own pockets, the Bare family is running out of money. Without an influx of donations, they may have to temporarily close the shelter in the next two or three weeks, Bare said.
“We want to continue what we are doing, but without new funding there’s no practical way,” he said.
Bare would not disclose how much his family has contributed to the center’s operations, but said he needs about $20,000 a month to properly run the facility.
Yet even if they scrounge up that funding, the city may permanently close its doors. Charlottesville officials have notified the Bares that they are violating the city’s zoning ordinance, which does not permit overnight shelters in that residential neighborhood. If the Bares cannot get the Board of Zoning Appeals to grant them a reprieve on April 17, the city will likely take them to court.
City officials insist that they have no choice but to enforce zoning regulations. The community center should not receive special treatment because of its use, said Ric Barrick, city spokesman.
“In this instance, like any other, we have to treat everyone equally,” Barrick said.
The saga has left Bare, who spends 70 hours a week running the shelter, exhausted and dejected. Why, he wonders, would the city step in and stop a valuable service the community?
“If we shut down, 50 people will be back on the streets,” Bare said.
The COMPASS organization was running the shelter this fall until the group disintegrated. That’s when the Bares stepped in to take over the day-to-day operations. After Pastor Bare asked the City Council in February for funding, Read Brodhead, a city zoning inspector, stopped by the shelter to inform the Bares that they were violating the zoning ordinance.
City officials are now considering allowing homeless shelters to receive special-use permits, but no decision has been made.
Corban Klug, Bare’s lawyer, is optimistic that the zoning board will grant the shelter a variance next month allowing it to remain open.
“I’m hopeful that we will be able to reach a resolution,” he said. “It’s clear there’s a problem — there’s homeless people who need shelter.”
If the Bares lose their appeal, the city would likely take to the court system to shut down the shelter.
Bare fears that such a move would have devastating ramifications for his clients.
“If we close our door, who is going to help them?” he asked.