NIAGARA FALLS – A Ferry Avenue homeless shelter recently forced to stop providing emergency overnight housing got a big show of support Monday night. Dozens of supporters turned out at the City Council meeting in City Hall to speak out for the Niagara Gospel Rescue Mission.
“It’s not just feeding people. It’s not just giving somebody somewhere to stay. It’s saving lives,” said Dan Crinieri, who said he walked into the facility nine months ago “broken” and addicted to heroin.
The city’s Department of Code Enforcement issued a cease and desist order after concerns were raised by the Memorial Park Block Club about the shelter. City law prohibits transient housing facilities from being located in residential neighborhoods.
Crinieri was one of two men who told the Council on Monday how the rescue mission helped them.
But they weren’t the only ones to praise the shelter. Jennifer Cooper, owner of Cooper Sign Company and Old Glory Flag & Banner Co., and John Signorelli, owner of Signorelli Electric Construction, had kind words for the organization’s work.
Cooper said the facility, where she volunteers, has seen more than $100,000 in upgrades to the property since it opened in 2010. “I truly feel it’s a gem in the neighborhood,” she said.
Signorelli said the mission “changes lives.”
The facility’s executive director, D. Shaun Smith, and Board President David Curtin were among those who addressed the Council.
Smith said he believes the organization has been unfairly characterized by some in the public. “Our goal was to be a blessing to the city and not a burden,” Smith said.
Memorial Park Block Club President Ruth Cooper declined to comment after the meeting. She had previously called it “a legal issue.”
Mayor Paul A. Dyster said the city has a complaint-driven system, and providing overnight transient housing is not allowed on the property.
“We had no choice but to do what we did,” the mayor said.
However, he said, the city’s actions regarding the facility do not reflect on the overall work done at the facility.
After the meeting, Dyster said he may personally write a check donating to the organization today after hearing the speakers Monday night.
The mission has the right to request a variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals that would allow it to resume providing emergency overnight shelter.
The facility also has an eight-bed, long-term residential program that’s a Christian, faith-based ministry for men. All of those spots are currently full. It also has a meal program which serves approximately 2,000 people a month, according to the organization.
Claire Curtis, who said she lives next door to the shelter on Ferry Avenue, said shelter representatives once stopped by to make sure she had enough to eat on Thanksgiving, and also gave her five children winter coats that had been collected in a coat drive. She called what the facility does for the neighborhood “overwhelming.”
“I’m very comfortable with them being my neighbors,” Curtis said.
email: abesecker@buffnews.com
“It’s not just feeding people. It’s not just giving somebody somewhere to stay. It’s saving lives,” said Dan Crinieri, who said he walked into the facility nine months ago “broken” and addicted to heroin.
The city’s Department of Code Enforcement issued a cease and desist order after concerns were raised by the Memorial Park Block Club about the shelter. City law prohibits transient housing facilities from being located in residential neighborhoods.
Crinieri was one of two men who told the Council on Monday how the rescue mission helped them.
But they weren’t the only ones to praise the shelter. Jennifer Cooper, owner of Cooper Sign Company and Old Glory Flag & Banner Co., and John Signorelli, owner of Signorelli Electric Construction, had kind words for the organization’s work.
Cooper said the facility, where she volunteers, has seen more than $100,000 in upgrades to the property since it opened in 2010. “I truly feel it’s a gem in the neighborhood,” she said.
Signorelli said the mission “changes lives.”
The facility’s executive director, D. Shaun Smith, and Board President David Curtin were among those who addressed the Council.
Smith said he believes the organization has been unfairly characterized by some in the public. “Our goal was to be a blessing to the city and not a burden,” Smith said.
Memorial Park Block Club President Ruth Cooper declined to comment after the meeting. She had previously called it “a legal issue.”
Mayor Paul A. Dyster said the city has a complaint-driven system, and providing overnight transient housing is not allowed on the property.
“We had no choice but to do what we did,” the mayor said.
However, he said, the city’s actions regarding the facility do not reflect on the overall work done at the facility.
After the meeting, Dyster said he may personally write a check donating to the organization today after hearing the speakers Monday night.
The mission has the right to request a variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals that would allow it to resume providing emergency overnight shelter.
The facility also has an eight-bed, long-term residential program that’s a Christian, faith-based ministry for men. All of those spots are currently full. It also has a meal program which serves approximately 2,000 people a month, according to the organization.
Claire Curtis, who said she lives next door to the shelter on Ferry Avenue, said shelter representatives once stopped by to make sure she had enough to eat on Thanksgiving, and also gave her five children winter coats that had been collected in a coat drive. She called what the facility does for the neighborhood “overwhelming.”
“I’m very comfortable with them being my neighbors,” Curtis said.
email: abesecker@buffnews.com