GREENSBORO, N.C. — Thirty temporary shelters for Greensboro's winter homeless program are expected to arrive next week.
The city ordered 30 pallet shelters in the fall to house 60 homeless people. Those shelters function as temporary homes with heating and air. The company said the shelters are expected to be delivered Monday.
City workers were setting up for the shelters Thursday afternoon. Wooden stakes were placed in groups of four. Each group of stakes represents where one shelter will sit.
The shelters are being set up on the baseball outfield at Pomona Park. The hope is to have them ready to go by Christmas.
Neighbors expressed concerns about the project. They worry that the people who will live in the shelters will loiter in the neighborhood and there might be an increase in crime.
Michelle Kennedy leads Housing and Neighborhood Development for the city. She explained how Pomona Park was chosen.
"Some of the things that matter in the decision-making process are access to bus line," Kennedy said. "It’s a pretty private location. If you look at where it is it’s bordered on one side by a train track. On the other side, there is a vacant lot where a home is burned out. So it’s not like you’re depositing it into a dense residential neighborhood but you’re still simultaneously not moving it so far away from services that it makes it restrictive for folks that stay there."
She also doesn't expect security to be a problem.
"Statistically speaking there’s no uptick in criminal activity related to projects such as these," Kennedy said. "They will be provided with bus passes so that they can access regular services and activities that they do during the day and the inclusion of 24-hour security on that site will make it actually safer for anybody that wanted to use the facilities that are adjacent to the field."
Some people have asked how this will affect the baseball field used for the project. Challenger Baseball, a sports league for children and adults with special needs, uses the field in the spring.
Kennedy said the shelters will be off the field in time for their season.
"One of the things we're aware of is that grass can be damaged. We are prepared and completely able to make the repairs necessary in the outfield prior to the start of Challenger Baseball," Kennedy said.
All of the people who will stay in the shelters were referred by organizations like the Interactive Resource Center and Greensboro Urban Ministry and are actively living on the street.