South Bend buys land for proposed low-barrier homeless shelter, but stays open to new sites

SOUTH BEND — A city commission on Thursday voted to buy a piece of land that's been at the center of recent controversy over its proposed use as a low-barrier homeless shelter.

The South Bend Redevelopment Commission voted 4-1 to pay $277,750 for five acres of vacant land owned by the South Bend Community School Corp. The city plans to sell the site to leaders of the New Day Intake Center, a facility that would serve homeless guests who are hardest to reach.

The site, just north of the school district's bus facility on the 3000 block of Bendix Drive, has been heavily criticized over the past two weeks because it's close to a public park, a residential neighborhood, several small businesses and a day care. Business owners fear a downturn in customers. Residents worry for their children's safety.

The four commissioners who voted in favor of the purchase — Marcia Jones, Dave Relos, Vivian Sallie and Troy Warner, who's also the 4th District representative on the South Bend Common Council — emphasized that their decision doesn't guarantee the property will become a homeless shelter.

Caleb Bauer, executive director of the Department of Community Investment, and South Bend Mayor James Mueller have said the administration remains open to other sites for the center. St. Joseph County officials, led by county commissioner Derek Dieter, on Wednesday announced a task force that will work to propose other options.

Casting the only dissenting vote, commissioner Eli Wax stood by his belief that the proposed use doesn't meet the standards for a redevelopment project outlined in Indiana law. He referenced a statute that says projects should benefit the public's "health, safety, morals and welfare"; increase the economic well-being of the community; and serve to protect and increase property values.

"I know that there's legitimate concerns, and to alleviate those requires planning around them and engaging with the neighborhood and surrounding constituents," Wax said, "to make sure that, if this is going to go forward, that it is designed in a way to eliminate or at least, to the fullest extent possible, minimize potential negative effects."

Motels4Now supporters argue for sense of urgency

The New Day center's housing-first approach is backed by nationwide evidence and numbers shared by Motels4Now, a low-barrier shelter that started in August 2020 after tent encampments swept over downtown South Bend. Both programs operate under the Catholic homeless services provider Our Lady of the Road.

The center's low-barrier model would eschew rules requiring sobriety, income or substance abuse treatment in order to house people who can't live anywhere else. With stable housing, people can then choose to get medical treatment on site and work with staff to apply for permanent housing.

Program leaders say Motels4Now has helped more than 700 guests, and 78% of them have found success at the motel or moved on willingly to a better option. Of more than 200 people placed in permanent housing, three of four remain stably housed.

Nearly 30 people spoke at Thursday's meeting, and they were roughly split between support and opposition for the purchase. Many urged the commission to delay a vote, saying it would be irresponsible to spend taxpayer dollars on a site without a sure plan for its use.

"If we’re considering what has been proposed at this property, we are not considering economic redevelopment," said Dennis Zmyslo, the owner of Tom's Car Care Center, a business founded on the far northwest side in 1988. "We are considering blight and problems."

But advocates noted that plans to build a low-barrier shelter go back six years, when a mayoral committee on chronic homelessness recommended the low-barrier approach. Further delays would mean people must wait longer for the support they need to exit chronic homelessness, advocates say.

Dr. Daniel Armounfelder, a resident physician at Memorial Hospital who visits Motels4Now patients twice a month, told commissioners that many guests have urgent health issues.

As it stands, the doctors lug in their backpacks and operate out of a motel room. At the New Day center, they would have appropriate facilities.

"Far from being a blight infecting our community, they're suffering from infections that we can treat," Armounfelder said of Motels4Now guests. "And for those suffering from chronic illnesses, the data shows us that giving people rooms and roofs allows us to more effectively treat and cure them."

Commissioner Warner argued that delaying a first step would curb momentum for a long-term solution that Motels4Now was designed to address temporarily.

"Every time there has been a discussion about homelessness in the last eight years that I've been around, people get very impassioned," Warner said. "Tempers flare. Fears flare, and things get stoked. I think finding any site where you're not going to have opposition is not a realistic thought."

Potential sale for homeless shelter is months away

The city plans to close on the purchase after a 90-day due diligence period, Bauer said, and the proposal to sell it to the New Day team won't occur for months.

Bauer said he's confident that the site on Bendix could be sold and redeveloped for an industrial use, if it doesn't become a homeless shelter.

The center's leaders must now raise money to pay for the other half of the expected $12-$16 million cost.

The New Day center has received $5 million in grants from Indiana's Department of Mental Health and Addictions, leaders say. The city pitched in $1.5 million of American Rescue Plan money to Our Lady of the Road after the St. Joseph County Council early last year chose to stop funding Motels4Now in response to complaints from nearby business owners.

Bauer said he wants county officials to make commitments to fund the New Day center instead of merely suggesting a site.

"The goal of the intake center is (people) are safe, they're fed, they're warm, and the supportive services are there," Bauer said, "so that people aren't having to move from one point to the next just to stay warm and stay fed and stay alive."

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend buys land for low-barrier homeless shelter on Bendix