CAPITOL HEIGHTS, MD. (DC NEWS NOW) - Concerns over whether to rebuild a homeless shelter in Prince George’s County have residents in a Capitol Heights neighborhood frustrated.
Rather than rebuilding it at its current location, some residents say the shelter should be built somewhere else.
The Prince George’s House is one of the few men’s shelters in Prince George’s County, and after 30 years, leaders say it’s time for a new building. Money was allocated to rebuild the shelter nearly 15 years ago, and the current county executive administration is hoping to make the change soon.
People who live right across the street from the shelter like Robin Hamilton say more talks are needed, before the county proceeds.
“We feel as if we haven’t been given a chance to have a real open, meaningful, honest, transparent dialogue with the county,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton lives just a few feet away from the shelter. She says she along with several others are satisfied with the size of the shelter as it is but if the county decides to expand it they believe moving it to Naylor Rd. would be a better fit.
“The solution is again have something sustainable, like a grocery store here, and then have a site like the one on Naylor road, where people again, residents in that new facility could have access to jobs, public transportation, and housing,” said Hamilton.
A community meeting was held back in May where Capitol Heights residents voiced their concerns but seeing there hasn’t been any update since many of them feel their opinions were not heard clearly.
“There’s this attitude of oh everybody bristles about the homeless shelter, we [only] care about it until it’s in our own backyard, and that’s not true. We again have been very welcoming of our neighbors. We think the expansion though would be better suited at the Naylor Road location because there’s more access, more amenities,” said Hamilton.
District 7 council member Krystal Oriadha says not everyone will walk away from the table happy.
“I’m really committed to helping to bridge the conversation, helping to be an advocate at the table, making sure that everyone feels their voices heard is heard, and being very having a very open, honest and transparent process,” said Oriadha.
In a statement, the County Executive Deputy of Communications Anthony McAuliffe tells DC News Now: “We all have a responsibility to do our part to make Prince George’s County a great place to live for everyone and that includes providing a safe place for individuals at risk of homelessness. We will continue to engage the community as we proceed with the project.”
“The County has engaged the nearby community as we work to replace the aging Men’s Transition Center. On May 8, 2023, County leadership hosted a meeting with the members of this community to explain where we currently are in this process, continue to hear their concerns, and share the changes to the design of the facility that we made to address some of their previous concerns,” he continued.
As for Hamilton and several other neighbors, she’s hoping a conversation can happen soon.
“This is a situation where we don’t have to choose one or the other. All of us can win and if you truly engage with the population with this community, we can all have a solution that benefits everybody,” she said.
26 авг 2024
