Judge Orders Task Force Out of Peachtree-Pine
The United Way will handle operation of the controversial Midtown shelter until it closes in August.
The homeless shelter at Peachtree and Pine streets will soon shut its doors.
That’s what Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall said on Friday as he ordered the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless to relinquish control of the controversial Midtown shelter.
Do you think this shelter should close?
In this Atlanta-Journal Constitution report, Schwall said he had protected the 435-bed shelter long enough. The shelter has struggled for years to stay open, in part because it doesn't raise enough money to cover the cost of operations. The shelter owes the city of Atlanta several hundred thousand dollars for water and sewer service.
On Friday, Schwall gave the task force’s founders until Feb. 15 to vacate the property and ordered the shelter closed by the last day of August. In the meantime, he transferred control of the shelter to the United Way until all the men, as many as 600 of them, can be housed elsewhere.
This would appear to be welcomed news to many Midtown residents. In October, the Midtown Ponce Security Alliance wrote on its website, "From the very start Peachtree-Pine has generated tremendous problems for the surrounding community, and at every step of the way they have balked at community feedback with the attitude that they could never go wrong with their cause."
Friday evening, Jay Tribby, the chief of staff to Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall, sent an email to District 2 neighborhood presidents and NPU chairs. Wrote Tribby:
“As you may have already heard, just a few hours ago Judge Craig Schwall ordered the closure of the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter. The current management was ordered to vacate the property by Feb 15 and the property as as a whole was ordered to close by Aug 31. The transition of the property and the futures of those who have come to call Peachtree-Pine "home" (in spite of its official status as an emergency overnight shelter) will be managed by the United Way.
"Many of you have attended meetings with Kwanza in anticipation of today's decision, not knowing whether the day would come that the hundreds of homeless individuals who call the shelter "home" would be given a new lease on life and actually be connected to the services they need to rebuild their lives. Thanks to Judge Schwall's decision, the residents of Peachtree-Pine are closer than ever to receiving the assistance they need. We will be in touch shortly re next steps.”
Are you worried about the homeless people who live there and where they will go?
Do you think the shelter has been a nuisance in the community? Let us know in the comment box below.
MidtownAllen
9:55 am on Saturday, February 4, 2012
Calling that hell hole a "nuisance" is an understatement. The shelter has been a blight on the neighborhood, bringing crime to the area and destroying property values. The living conditions have been a disgrace, and the operators (Anita and Jim Beaty) should be ashamed for warehousing human beings to satisfy their egos and pocketbooks. Atlantans should be proud of Judge Schwall for making this decision. Perhaps now the men who have called this "overnight emergency" shelter their "home" for years can get on with their lives and gain some dignity.
Concerned Midtowner
7:18 am on Sunday, February 5, 2012
I think the judge slandered the Beatys in his comments. They have long been totally dedicated to helped those who had no place else to go. In no way did they get wealthy from this intensely difficult work which they did out of their big hearts. The entire business community has worked relentlessly against them for years because they don't like homeless people around them. But where will they go? There is no place in Atlanta that can absorb this number of homeless people. The problem will only worsen. Now you will find homeless people all over the streets at night with nowhere to go. The majority of those who stayed at Peachtree Pine have significant emotional, physical and psychological challenges that other places are not equipped to deal with. This shelter was the last hope for many. When it is gone, they will have very few options. This is a sad day for the soul of Atlanta.
Sid
2:48 pm on Friday, March 2, 2012
This Shelter wasn't/isn't equipped to deal with the emotional, Physical and Psychological challenges either. In fact they are a lot less equipped than most shelters. Not only are they not equiped they don't want to be. The United Way said that they could absorb the numbers of homeless over time (8 months or so). Why not have that happen so that the homeless can get the help they need rather than having them sit idle and languish so the Beaty’s can continue to collect their paychecks and tax payers continue to pay for all of this? This shelter doesn't have any rules about being in by a certain time or about working toward bettering a person’s situation like all well run shelters have.
Hunt Archbold
11:15 am on Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Atlanta Progressive News is reporting Tuesday morning that a stay has been granted in the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless eviction. http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2012/02/14/breaking-stay-granted-in-task-force-for-homeless-eviction.html