We are neighbors of the SLO Naz Church with young kids. We support safe parking sites | Opinion
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi
We are neighbors who attended the overnight safe parking site informational meeting on Sept. 20 at the San Luis Obispo Nazarene Church. The church is considering offering its parking lot for 12 unhoused people living in their vehicles, in accordance with program requirements. There has been much media coverage of this, as well as confusion over dissimilar programs (such as programs on Oklahoma Avenue and Railroad Square).
Many neighbors came to the meeting to express their fears of the unknown. We’d like to address some concerns.
Several speakers spoke passionately of safety, particularly of their children and teenage daughters. Nothing speaks more powerfully to parents, including us, than a threat to our children. We are mothers of school-age children. Yet we are both in favor of this program. How can this be?
“Stranger danger” is etched deeply in our awareness, yet evidence shows that 93% of cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by a person within one’s family, by a person close to the family or by a person of authority in the child’s life. It is easy to teach our kids to distrust strangers, but harm to our children is more likely to come from someone they know well.
Opinion
Another concern is that while our neighbors have compassion for the safe parking users, they just don’t want the program in our residential neighborhood. Many asked why the program couldn’t be on a commercial or rural site. The real concern, again, seems to be safety. Who really is at risk of being a victim of crime? More than our neighbors, it’s the unhoused.
It is dangerous to be without a home. The rotating safe parking program gives 12 people, vetted in numerous ways, a safe place for a night’s sleep. After listening to the facts presented at the meeting, we feel safe with this program and don’t see the need for added security. The participants and their site captain want the site to work; it is their lifeline. We all have access to the police should we witness a concern.
Will we be part of the solution, or will we continue complaining about the problem?
The SLO Naz Church has experience: they housed local homeless folks on their private property for 20 years! The city is in talks with other faith-based organizations, and we hope many will choose to participate.
This program will not start unless others step up. In the meantime, if you want to be part of the solution, talk to your neighbors, hear their concerns and see if we can find common ground and take one step to solve this housing problem, 12 grateful people at a time.
Laura Slaughter is a family nurse practitioner and a former commissioner on the SLO County Citizens’ Homeless Accountability Commission who lives with her husband and children a half mile away from the proposed safe parking site. Cindy Johnson is a businesswoman, board member for Transitions-Mental Health Association and a neighbor of the SLO Nazarene Church.
