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Greenpoint Church Opens Homeless Program Despite Protests

By Serena Dai | January 26, 2015 2:20pm
 Lutheran Church of Messiah, located at 129 Russell St., is hosting a respite bed program for the homeless in Greenpoint.
Lutheran Church of Messiah, located at 129 Russell St., is hosting a respite bed program for the homeless in Greenpoint.
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Lutheran Church

GREENPOINT — A local church has opened a temporary emergency homeless shelter despite previous dissent from neighbors.

The 10-bed program — available only to people already in the neighborhood screened by nonprofit Common Ground — opened on Thursday as a result of efforts by Pastor Amy Kienzle of the Lutheran Church of Messiah and Councilman Stephen Levin.

The pastor had asked Levin if she could offer space in her church at 129 Russell St. to the homeless after a man died in nearby McGolrick Park in November.

A meeting in December about the possible "respite bed" program, or emergency beds for people with nowhere else to go, was largely met with opposition, Levin and Kienzle said, with residents worried about violence and safety.

But Levin and Kienzle decided that too much was at stake.

"While we know that neighbors will be upset with this development, we also know that we must abide by the conviction that we are our brother's keeper," Levin wrote to neighbors in a North Brooklyn Facebook group.

"[As] a faith community and as a local government, we have a collective responsibility to look out for those among us in the greatest need. Simply put, this program will save lives."

Greenpoint's only respite bed program ended after the winter of 2012-2013, Levin said. Two men have died in McGolrick Park since then.

Homelessness in Greenpoint has been a controversial issue in the past.

The city struggled to find a place to put a warming shelter two years ago after neighbor opposition convinced one church to stop hosting a shelter, and locals went as far as to form a corporation in hopes of blocking a shelter on McGuinness Boulevard.

But the deaths of homeless people, whose health and well-being impact the entire community, is "unacceptable," Levin said.

"The reality is unacceptable for any community, including ours in Greenpoint," he wrote.

Kienzle's church is not receiving any rent for hosting the program. The city is paying for utilities, and a Polish-speaking staff member from Common Ground will supervise the program.

The shelter is open every day from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and will close once the weather warms up.

Kienzle said that she was surprised that locals reacted with "so much anger" to the idea of McGolrick Park's homeless moving inside her church.

It's a "death prevention" program, for at-risk people on a list monitored by Common Ground, Kienzle said, and just a temporary solution to a complex problem.

She's hoping to bring a group together to tackle the issue in a bigger way later on.

"The church see this as an extension of its mission to serve the neighbors and the neighborhood," Kienzle said. "That's why we're doing it."