Harsh words exchanged at Amherst warming center

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

AMHERST - An argument between staff members and volunteers at a warming center for the homeless Monday night prompted a police response after several members of the town's Committee on Homelessness attempted to bring in blankets, pillows and food for the patrons.

At 10:30 p.m., Jane Banks, program director for Center for Human Development, called local police after receiving word from a staff member about the dispute at the First Baptist Church, police Lt. Ronald Young said.

Three officers responded to the scene and defused the situation. Police returned to the Main Street warming center half an hour later, Young said, to make sure peace was being maintained.

Rose Evans, program director for the Center for Human Development, said Tuesday that the center does not have a legal permit to house the homeless overnight, and that providing the items is forbidden based on the CHD's contract with the town.

Chris Yurko, CHD communications coordinator, said in an emailed statement to the Gazette: "If the Committee on Homelessness has issues with what they can and cannot bring to guests there, they need to take the issue up with the Amherst health inspector, fire chief and town manager and not make it more difficult for the warming center staff to do their jobs, which is to take care of the guests."

--See the state's guidelines on temporary shelters

Last Friday, Town Manager Laurence Shaffer announced the closure of the Warming Place as of Monday, more than a month earlier than expected. Members of the Committee on Homelessness held an emergency meeting in response to try to stay the closure.

Since then, Amherst reconsidered and asked the CHD to continue providing services until patrons could find other accommodations. The center - which is operated by CHD for the town - is now slated to close on March 31.

In a press release issued last week, Shaffer listed several reasons for the center's closure, including the inability of the current facility to provide separate quarters for men, women and families, showering and bathing facilities and adequate accommodations to feed program participants.

Volunteer Dave Keenan, who has been working as a CHD employee, disputes the official accounts. He said what he and other employees were being asked to do was akin to kicking people when they are already down.

"They were trying to make us take away the personal property of the guests," Keenan said.

Attempts to reach Reikka Simula, chairman of the Committee on Homelessness, were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.