Baltimore Crime: Beans and Dread:

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Beans and Dread:

A long-planned homeless center’s expansion got underway last week. Then, a Beans and Bread employee stabbed a client. | Baltimore City Paper

26 comments:

ppatin said...: I was going to make a cynical post about how maybe they shouldn't plop a homeless center in the middle of Fells Point, but it's really on the edge of the Perkins Homes. Compared to the crap that flows out of that housing project Beans & Bread seems fairly benign.; Tue Nov 24, 01:33:00 PM EST
BaltimoreGal said...: As someone who's logged plenty of volunteer hours at Beans and Bread, I can say that I have always felt safe there. That said, people have failings.

I saw in the article that the "employee" is a part-time employee. Usually these employees are residents of the Frederick Ozanam House and are transitioning back into society.

There's nowhere for a homeless shelter to go that won't impact the surrounding area. But the point is to aid and feed the homeless and Beans & Bread does, and has done, an excellent job of this for longer than the majority of the people who are making these complaints. Like your previous commenter pointed out, this is not a great area to begin with, and certainly wasn't when they first move there.

If violence is truly escalating, I'm guessing it is a sign of the times.; Tue Nov 24, 02:59:00 PM EST
Cham said...: According to someone's FB page, a certain local blogger is graduating from the police academy as we speak. Look out Pigtown.; Tue Nov 24, 03:36:00 PM EST
Cham said...: One should never put a homeless shelter anywhere near where a city is trying to extract the biggest bang for the buck property tax wise. With this city's long list of abandoned warehouses and properties, I would suggest that it accommodate this soup kitchen and homeless shelter with an appropriate space where it can do all the expansion it wants in a less financially critical district. Didn't we already go through this with the Catholics?; Tue Nov 24, 04:18:00 PM EST
ppatin said...: "One should never put a homeless shelter anywhere near where a city is trying to extract the biggest bang for the buck property tax wise."

Yeah, but the place in question is right by the Perkins Homes. Any damage to property values that can be done has already been done by the project trash that live there. I'm not a big fan of more bums in a neighborhood, but compared to some of the Perkins Homes residents the homeless are fairly benign.; Tue Nov 24, 04:25:00 PM EST
BaltimoreGal said...: Cham,
Have you been to Beans and Bread? It is by no means in a high-tax area or "critical space." It's right next to Perkins Homes and mostly surrounded by warehouses.

Also, are you going to pay for the busing of the homeless out to wherever "an appropriate space... in a less financially critical district"? The homeless are IN the city. The soup kitchens and aid places must be where the homeless people are.

I also want to add that I always saw families and working poor at Beans & Bread. It's not just the traditional homeless that you see there. Or at any soup kitchen, for that matter. Who will step in to help those people if the kitchen would be relocated?

NIMBY syndrome is so irritating to me. Especially when it wasn't "Your BackYard" to begin with!; Tue Nov 24, 04:25:00 PM EST
ppatin said...: "NIMBY syndrome is so irritating to me. Especially when it wasn't "Your BackYard" to begin with!"

As a former and and hopefully soon to be returning Fells Point resident I've got to defend NIMBYism to a certain extent. I'm sure this is going to make me come off as rather heartless and somewhat elitist, but, well I guess I am!

Anyways, it seems pretty clear that a relatively small number of neighborhoods in Baltimore contribute disproportionately to the tax base that keeps this city afloat. The reason we have such outrageously high property taxes is because productive citizens are forced to carry the burden of a large number of people who contribute little or nothing. So, it would seem to make sense that a facility which attracts large numbers of undesirable, non-productive city residents should be kept as far away as possible from one the aforementioned neighborhoods that's filled with productive citizens. There are plenty of areas in Baltimore where a huge portion of the residents are bumming off of various forms of government assistance. Put the homeless shelters there.; Tue Nov 24, 04:33:00 PM EST
BaltimoreGal said...: OK, defend it, but when there are homeless with NO food and no place to go because the economy is in the toilet and there's no care for these people- many of whom are elderly or mentally ill- and no opportunities for them to better their situation- they will STILL be in your back yard. Just more desperate.

Similar to The Block- I'd rather it be out in the open where it can be addressed. You go TO the problem.; Tue Nov 24, 04:37:00 PM EST
ppatin said...: So put the facilities for the homeless further away from productive neighborhoods. We're already being forced to shoulder the financial burden of paying for them, it would be nice if the city would at least make a reasonable attempt to keep them away from us.; Tue Nov 24, 04:39:00 PM EST
BaltimoreGal said...: LAST comment.
They were there first, quite frankly. Nobody lived in that area that you consider better than "the project trash" until very recently. They already moved once from where Blue Moon is.

Perhaps people should do a little research before they move into a neighborhood. If you don't want to live near a homeless shelter then don't. ONE attack by an employee in 32 years is not a bad record. Ask the post office.; Tue Nov 24, 04:46:00 PM EST
Cham said...: I know exactly where Beans and Bread is located. I didn't know that the homeless are desperate to be near downtown and also have an assortment of hip saloons and upscale residential options at their disposal. Yes, the panhandlers enjoy the tourist areas but most of the homeless aren't panhandlers. And yes, there are pockets of some really nice residences on Bond Street.

The Catholics thought it most appropriate to put their soup kitchen in the arts district. Perhaps they thought their homeless clients might want to visit the Walters Art Gallery or catch a recital over at the Peabody.....or more likely their parishioners wanted to pat themselves on the back for being so charitable after attending services at the Basilica and being able to look over at their creation.

When Our Daily Bread's clientele started to populate the library, rob and scare the locals in Mt. Vernon the locals understandably started to complain. The same holier-than-thou-antiNIMBY argument was voiced by Our Daily Bread. After years of bickering the Catholics decided it best to relocate. Instead of meeting the needs of their parishioners they decided to do something new and accommodate their clients. Where do you find homeless people? Under a bridge. Where is Our Daily Bread now? Under the Jones Falls Expressway on the Fallsway near the prisons. The homeless need shelter, food, medical care, psychological services, education and employment. They don't require saloons and museums.

Beans and Bread should follow suit.; Tue Nov 24, 04:50:00 PM EST
BaltimoreGal said...: Cham if you think Beans and Bread is located by "hip saloons and upscale residential options" then you have no idea where it is.; Tue Nov 24, 04:51:00 PM EST
Cham said...: I know exactly where it is, and due to Beans and Bread being there I avoid the area like the plague. I have walked every square inch of this city. It needs to go.; Tue Nov 24, 05:00:00 PM EST
ppatin said...: Cham:

I'm no great friend of the homeless, however Beans and Bread could disappear off the face of the Earth tonight and that area would still be dodgy. Like I said, in this particular case it's the Perkins Homes that are the main problem.; Tue Nov 24, 08:14:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: Beans & Bread is tolerated now...this issue is with their expansion....it's going to get bigger and the problems will, too.; Tue Nov 24, 08:48:00 PM EST
Cham said...: The area is dodgy because of Beans and Bread. Would you choose to live next door to a homeless shelter? I know I wouldn't. Look at the area around the water: You have Highlandtown, Canton, Fells Point, Inner Harbor, Federal Hill, South Baltimore and Locust Point. The whole place is thriving....except for the Perkins Homes area. The city was able to make Flag House, Lexington Terrace and Murphy Homes disappear, and when the residents of Perkins Homes eventually get their eviction notices there won't be one person who is surprised. It's bad government to allow a valuable piece of property that could have highly profitable taxpaying residences or businesses on it to go to waste. Homeless people and renters have no claim to property. Why is a homeless shelter and a crime-strewn housing project on the protected list?; Wed Nov 25, 06:28:00 AM EST
helix said...: I'm going to blunt. There is nothing "dangerous" about Beans and Bread.

People just don't want to be around the depressing, squalid sight of desperate people. We can tolerate it in small doses, those of us that can't have already moved to the exburbs.

The problem is with homeless "mega-centers". Seriously. How many freaking homeless services can one area handle? Baltimore street from President to Central is little more than church-run bum hotels. Around the corner, across from the farmer's market, a new homeless "corporate" headquarters are being built right next to an actual hotel (the former UTZ building). Beans and Bread is yet another bum magnet.

This is too many for one place. At least spread them out some more, for christ's sake.; Wed Nov 25, 08:50:00 AM EST
ppatin said...: "Baltimore street from President to Central is little more than church-run bum hotels. Around the corner, across from the farmer's market, a new homeless "corporate" headquarters are being built right next to an actual hotel (the former UTZ building)."

Your tax dollars at work! Don't you love paying Baltimore's 2.3% property tax!; Wed Nov 25, 09:35:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: Former police officer speaks out about violence at Beans & Bread

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bal-beansandbreadletter1120b,0,1338665.story; Wed Nov 25, 12:06:00 PM EST
fly butler said...: Is anyone aware that the employees of St. Vincent de Paul who arrange the funding and planning for Beans & Bread do not work at the soup kitchen on Bond Street? They work in corporate offices nowhere near Bond Street. People call those of us who are fighting the expansion of Beans & Bread NIMBYs for having a soup kitchen in our backyard while those who oversee the soup kitchen won't work anywhere near it! Those of us living in the greater Fells Point area actually have a soup kitchen near our backyard, we actually want it to continue providing hot lunch for 300 people on weekdays, yet we are labeled NIMBYs by people who don't have soup kitchens in their neighborhoods! I can't decide if that is that ironic or hypocritical.; Wed Nov 25, 12:11:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: The first issue is that Beans and Bread has outgrown its space. Even with the expansion, it will be too much for its present lot. At 300 lunches a day, it would create too much traffic for its corner if it served an orderly and affluent population. A restaurant of that magnitude would never work in such close quarters.

The second issue is the management of the operation. Beans and Bread is run by an absentee board of suburban dilettantes and by bureaucrats who have their offices far removed from the site. It once was an organic creation of its host community. Now it is an outpost of a large non-profit that pays its chief officer $130,000 a year, according to the 990 form on file with the IRS. They really have no clue about the neighborhood or the clientele.; Wed Nov 25, 12:47:00 PM EST
Cham said...: Do we spread the homeless shelters, the transitional housing and the soup kitchens evenly throughout the city or do we try to concentrate them in one area to make it easier for the clients to access services and minimize the impact?

The city was faced with a similar challenge when it had to expand the prisons. Rather than build 5 different prisons in 5 different neighborhoods the city decided to locate them all in one area. Was this fair to the residents of Penn Fallsway? Absolutely not. If anyone deserves a lucrative eminent domain deal it would be any homeowner that is still living under the shadows of the many prison walls over there. But, you have to give the city credit, they minimized what could have been broad scale damage with this one-stop-shop plan.

For those unlucky enough to score a 30, 90 or 180 day sentence at a Baltimore prison, they may find themselves cooling their heals long enough to sober up and calm down, but not long enough to gain entry into an effective rehab or behavior modification program. When released from their sentences the offenders are still are violent and/or addicted to drugs. Their families may not take them in and most don't have any money. Where are they to go? Shall we suggest a nice homeless shelter?

If one takes the time to talk to our homeless residents, one will find that many of them do not originate from Baltimore City. I've met homeless recently from South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Baltimore and Harford Counties. All of them have a drug problem. I assume they come here for the cheap and plentiful heroin, and to utilize the services for the homeless. Major urban centers tend to be ground zero for people who are out of options and are no longer welcome on their home turf.

These people become our burden, we are aware the homeless are part of the fabric of any large city. This doesn't mean the taxpaying residents of the city should have to welcome the homeless as neighbors simply because we both choose to occupy the same urban boundary. If Michael from South Carolina relocates to Baltimore to explore the cheap pharmaceutical options are city residents obligated to let him sleep and urinate in the alleys?

I'm more than happy to allow nonprofits to house, clothe, feed and assist these people, but not at the cost of our own neighborhoods and safety. I feel sorry for the residents of Penn-Fallsway, but the best thing to do is put all this stuff in one location where the clientele can easily access the services they need and the nonprofits can best access the people that need help the most.; Wed Nov 25, 02:29:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: I agree with Cham. Home-owning taxpayers deserve consideration.; Wed Nov 25, 07:47:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: No body is asking the soup kitchen or the transitional house to leave, however it has been asked of beans and bread to run their facility better. For the last few years, the administration has allowed trash and loitering in our neighborhood..and yes this is a residential neighborhood..

.WE WERE HERE BEFORE BEANS AND BREAD CAME...WE DID TRY TO STOP IT before they moved here in the 90's because ST. VINCENT DE PAUL HAS A HISTORY OF NOT CARING ABOUT THEIR NEIGHBORS. We lost at the zoning hearing so beans and bread moved to our area. Then they asked to but in transitional housing a few years later and we agreed...
So for the last few years like I said , this has become a mess of an operation and then they talk about expanding....We do not even get to talk about it and find out that the city and OUR State Delegate and Senator have given money for a huge homeless center,A ONE STOP SHOP LIKE THE PREMIT DEPT. IN HOUSING... RIGHT DOWN A RESIDENTIAL ALLEY STREET...WITHOUT COMMUNITY APPROVAL. EVEN THE PLANNING DEPT. DID NOT TELL US ABOUT THIS DEVELOPMENT.

What is more sickening is that they paid $500,000 for alittle proverty that is worth no more than $150,000. $500,000 of our taxpayer dollars that could have been used better, to buy a whole block ...They are not going to build anything for the homeless to use, the soup kitchen will stay the same size and they will be made to wait like cattle...this money will build mostly beautiful fancy offices.....they could even have FANCY FUND RAISES IN THEIR NEW LOBBY....AND THEN AFTER THE TEN YEAR PLAN WHICH INVOLVES FEDERAL , STATE AND CITY MONEY, THE MONEY WILL RUN OUT AND IT WILL BE PRIME PROVERTY FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TO SELL TO THE DEVELOPERS AFTER THEY HAVE DEVALUATED OUR HOMES THAT TOOK YEARS TO FIX.........LOOK AT FAYETTE ST...ALOT OF THE BUIDINGS OF PUBLIC SERVICE ARE GONE..WHY THE EMPOWERMENT MONEY IS GONE???
Again $500,000 for a block building,,,ST. VINCENT'S HAS A GREAT BUILDING ON CENTRAL AVE....LARGE AND YET THEY SELL IT. WHERE DOES THAT MONEY GO...THEIR DIRECTOR MAKES $160,000 A YEAR...
So to all of you that do not know all the facts ask more...there is alot to this story ...; Thu Nov 26, 06:43:00 AM EST
Cham said...: I wanted to go bird watching today, but instead I spent most of my time hanging out in the new homeless encampment that has appeared in one of my prime birdwatching locations.

Not to my surprise, my new homeless friends are from out-of-state. One from Florida, one from Tennessee and one all the way from Oklahoma. 2 were recently released from prison. Although I didn't ask, I assume that 2 out of 3 had a drug problem. One was receiving his father's retirement check for $821/month. He said it wasn't enough to live on.

So I had to ask about homeless shelters. This encampment was near Wal-Mart in South Baltimore. For homeless shelters they like Our Daily Bread and Beans and Bread. The lady enjoyed using the services of My Sister's Place. They're biggest beef by far was they fact their cigarette lighters are taken away at the homeless shelters and they can't light their cigarettes. They also said the bathrooms can get quite messy, but that is the fault of the clients not the shelters. What they like most of all are hot meals, and appreciate the churches that feed the homeless with hot food in the winter.

Just like Sheila, they enjoy a good gift card. What they wanted most of all was a homeless shelter in South Baltimore, because they felt the 2 mentioned were a long walk away. I asked whether they had any plans to return from wence they came, and they said absolutely not, they love Baltimore.; Sat Nov 28, 04:32:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: Just a little landscape history: do you know why Perkins Homes is where it is? Perkins Homes occupies a low point between downtown and fell's point, it is the site of an historic swamp. This wetlands was the site of a black community that dates to prerevolutionary times. Perkins Homes, maybe one of the oldest public housing project in the nation, was unwanted ground, the only place the disenfranchised were allowed. The black slums that existed there for two hundred years were demomolished to build the public housing project envisioned by the New Deal. I live two blocks from Perkins Homes, as much as I hate the problems generated by this poorly implemented solution to inadequate housing, I cannot deny these people their right to live where they do. It is not all about money...; Fri Jun 15, 08:46:00 PM EDT

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Beans and Dread:

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