4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2018
Warming center: A handful of
people have been excluded for the
season because of their behavior
Continued from Page 1A
The Helping Hands shel-
ter, with its focus on re-en-
try, would be more stringent in
its requirements. Astoria still
needs a place like the warming
center, Evans said.
“There is a community of
people who will not be able to
access our facility in inclement
weather,” he said. “So those
organizations need to happen
still.”
Midseason review
Only two neighbors showed
up to ask questions and express
concerns at the warming cen-
ter’s midseason neighborhood
meeting Saturday.
“It’s going a lot better this
year,” said Sue Allen Clarke,
who lives on Franklin Avenue.
Clarke attended to make
sure that people who came
to the center and then caused
major
disruptions
were
excluded in the future, she said.
Dan Parkison, president of the
warming center board, assured
her this was now the case.
Cathy Cruikshank, who
lives in the Illahee Apart-
ments across the street from
the church, came to talk about
two incidents outside the shel-
ter. In December, she saw a
group gathered around a man
who was too drunk to stand,
trying to help him inside the
center, she said. In early Janu-
ary, she had been catcalled as
she walked by the center.
“We’re low barrier but zero
tolerance,” Parkison said, add-
ing, “We are much quicker and
stricter on exclusion policies.”
This season, staff have
excluded a handful of people
for the entire season because of
unruly or uncooperative behav-
ior, Parkison said.
When the warming cen-
ter sought a one-year condi-
tional use permit to operate out
of the church last summer, the
board was asked to develop an
agreement with the neighbor-
hood and the Astoria Down-
town Historic District Associ-
ation. The agreement outlined
commitments from the center,
including regular trash pickup,
patrols of the church parking
lot to make sure people aren’t
camping in their cars on nights
when the center is open, and
regular meetings at the begin-
ning, middle and end of the
season.
The center struggled to fill
out its roster of volunteers this
winter and has been forced to
close several nights when it
could have been open. Park-
ison said the board is develop-
ing a list of “last resort” people
they can call if they are short
just one person.
‘Rules are good’
Every night the warming
center is open now, the home-
less people who come, in addi-
tion to getting a meal and place
to sleep, hear a talk about
respecting the neighborhood,
Parkison said. They also help
volunteers pick up trash and
dog poop around the church
grounds.
“This year, it’s a jail without
bars, it’s so strict,” said Edward
Gates Sr., who has lived in
Clatsop County for four years
and has been homeless off and
on throughout that period. But,
to him, the new, stricter condi-
tions are a good thing.
Other people who have
stayed at the shelter this win-
ter agreed. One woman com-
mented, “Hotels have rules,
homes have rules. Rules are
good. They keep people safe.”
Sean Fitzpatrick, who
serves on the Astoria Planning
Commission and is one of the
owners of the Illahee Apart-
ments across the street from
the church, did not attend the
meeting Saturday. During the
conditional use permit hear-
ings, Fitzpatrick recused him-
self from discussion and vote
so he could participate as a
member of the public. He sup-
ports the center’s mission, he
said, but believes it is a burden
on the neighborhood.
In a phone interview Sat-
urday, he said the opera-
tion is smoother than it was
last winter. He still has con-
cerns, though. He complained
to the city about urine and
feces around the church at a
City Council meeting in early
January.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
LEFT: People living near the Astoria Warming Center have reported fewer problems this year. Volunteers Cheryl Paul and Ami Kreider organize do-
nations before opening the facility.
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