Town Manager Laurence Shaffer said he wants a "dry" shelter and shelter for women to be off-site.
AMHERST - The Committee on Homelessness wants the town’s emergency shelter to include women and allow people to come in who drink, provided they don’t disrupt the shelter.
Town Manager Laurence R. Shaffer, who will be issuing a request for proposal for services, said, however, he wants the shelter to be a so-called dry shelter as all shelters are in the area. He also wants to provide shelter to women off-site.
He said last year women were divided from the men by just a piece of fabric. About 20 percent of those who sought shelter were women.
The committee met with the Select Board on Monday night to talk about the shelter’s operation last year as well as outline its proposal for the upcoming winter.
“There is a wide chasm between my thinking on this service and their thinking on this service,” Shaffer said. “This needs to be resolved if we’re going to meet everyone’s goals.”
Last winter, the town opened a so-called warming space at the First Baptist Church for homeless individuals 18 and older to spend the night.
The center did not provide beds, only a place to stay warm from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. The Springfield-based Center for Human Development operated the space with money provided by the town and provided food for the overnight guests.
This year the plan is to provide an emergency shelter and beds. However, the boards of Building Regulations and Fire Prevention Regulations last year established that churches can be used as temporary shelters for a maximum of 35 days - and no more than seven consecutive days - between Sept. 15 and June 15 each year. The town is looking for four or five churches to provide this shelter.
Select Board chairwoman Stephanie J. O’Keeffe suggested a smaller group meet “so that we can talk about what are the key differences (between Shaffer and the committee.) At this rate we’re going to en up with nothing,” she said.
Shaffer said it is ultimately up to him to issue the request for proposals unless the committee on homeless “can develop funding sources and send out their own RFP.”
Homelessness Committee member Hwei-Ling Greeney said “the committee has spent time in the field (at the shelter). The committee is looking for dialogue before shutting people out on the site.” She said last year that it worked fine having women separated by the fabric, as well as basing it on behavior, rather than whether someone is sober.