Halfway House Plans Stir Concerns at Meeting
BY KATHERINE MCDONALD
Emotions ran high during a Northfield community meeting on Sept. 28, at which neighborhood residents expressed concerns over plans to establish a halfway house in a residential area of Northfield.
The proposed facility, which would serve six women at a time from all 87 Minnesota counties, is part of a joint effort between West Hills Lodge (a halfway house in Owatonna) and the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition.
If established, the Northfield facility would be the first halfway house program in Rice County and a facility which, according to county social worker Yvette Marthiner, would be a “huge asset” for the community.
Without it many Northfield residents recovering from drug and alcohol addiction have been sent as far as International Falls to receive treatment.
Plans for the facility have been underway for more than a year.
Door Fliers
However, many residents who live near the proposed location on 1101 South Spring Street, say they were not informed until late last week when a flier was slipped in their door.
The notification was met with stern disapproval by community members at the Sept. 28 meeting. Although there had been a short story in the Northfield News when the proposal was taken to the Board of Commissioners in July, according to one resident whose house would be directly next door to the facility, the plans still came as a “surprise to people in the neighborhood.”
Also of concern to residents was the possible impact of the facility on neighborhood safety, as well as the likely impact of a halfway house on the neighborhood’s atmosphere and social dynamic dynamic.
Once resident who wished to remain anonymous, but who brought his wife and daughter to the meeting, expressed deep anxiety for his family’s safety.
Safety Concerns
“I have four young children,” the man said. “As a neighbor I am very concerned.” The man and other neighborhood residents declined to give their names for this article, citing privacy and security concerns.
Other residents voiced their fear that a house of recovering addicts would significantly change the atmosphere of the neighborhood by attracting so many people living under one roof, as well as the cars and extra traffic they would bring.
The halfway house has already been approved by the Board of Commissioners and the Northfield City Council. It still needs approval by the City Licenser and could take as little as seven months to get it up and running.
Although residents were urged to express complaints to their city council members, the director of West Hills Lodge, Sue Fillipi, said that council members “cannot stop it at this point.”
Known Problems
Not all neighborhood residents at the meeting were against the plans.
Mary Nelson, a member of the Mayor’s Drug Task Force, believes there is an extreme “need for such a facility, that is safe and that works,” especially in light of the county’s known problems with heroin addiction.
Fillipi says she is committed to ensuring the facility is safe for the neighborhood. She explaining that the halfway house would not accept any client charged with assault, murder, arson or sex crimes.
She also stressed that the facility will maintain continuous communication with neighborhood residents and directly address any concerns or problems that arise.
Copyright @ 2009 Pressville.org
I represent Northfield’s 2nd Ward on the City Council; the proposed halfway house is in my ward. As neighbors contacted me to voice their concerns about this facility, I’ve been doing my homework to find out how such decisions about location are made, who makes them and what role (if any) the city might have.
Having served on the City’s Planning Commission, I vaguely remembered a state law requirement that makes group facilities of 6 people or fewer a “single-family use” – to make a long story somewhat shorter, I worked my way back from local zoning (which complies with state law) to discover that halfway houses, among other group facilities, of 6 people are fewer are protected not only by state law, but by the Federal Fair Housing Act (as amended in 1988).
Given the strong legislative statement from federal law on down protecting group homes and individuals with disabilities, the group home meetings could have been framed much differently both for the community and for the neighbors.
Thanks for doing this research, Councilor Buckheit. I wasn’t aware of this legislation- it’s interesting and helpful to know.
I sincerely hope that concerns about the halfway house are being alleviated for some of the community members from Ward 2. Continuing to speak up and learn as much as possible from the administration of the West Hills Lodge organization in Owatonna and other similar organizations is a wise idea.
I understand a bit of the South Spring Street neighbors hesitation and concern. As a foster parent for teenage boys, I feel particularly sensitive to possible neighborhood concerns regarding living near others who are believed to have experienced challenging and unfamiliar life circumstances. It can feel risky and unpredictable. I have to admit that a number of times over the past 16 years, I have experienced some of those feelings myself as new kids have come into my life bringing with them all of their important belongings- which include friends, families, and past experiences.
And, yes, our family is different from our neighbors in some ways. We probably are a bit more unpredictable, diverse, active. Maybe we even appear at times sort of chaotic and messy. But, aren’t all families messy in their own special way? Life well-lived is seldom tidy. I believe our neighbors have found us to be surprisingly, well, normal. My boys come to foster care for many, many different reasons but they all seem to have one thing in common- they just want to have a regular life. They help our neighbors when they get stuck in snow drifts, need help lifting heavy stuff, or want assistance cleaning out a garage. Several neighbors supportively honk and wave as they drive by and see the guys practicing skateboarding tricks in the driveway. One neighbor for years now makes for the boys at Halloween a round pan of brownies decorated to look like a jack-o-lantern. Others neighbors keep that old village-thing alive by keeping me posted on the good, the bad and the annoying teenager-ish stunts that may have slipped under my radar. (Thank you, thank you, dear neighbors!)
Anyway, perhaps my point is to just give this halfway house thing a chance. I think my atypical family, at first glance, could seem as concerning, if not more so, than a home for adult women who have come far on a hard road toward their recovery. But our neighbors appear to feel pretty safe and secure with us next door. To me it sounds like the residents of the halfway house will have plenty of safe guards in place- extensive programing, expectations, supervision, and support-
There are already so many of our Northfield community members who are deep into their recovery but whose journey remains unknown to us. They might be our minister, banker, teacher, store manager, customer – maybe even our neighbor. Recovery is often very private and invisible. I have read that it could help us all to remember that fundamentally “they” are a lot more like “us” than we might imagine.
Get information, speak up, keep your eyes open- but also keep your hearts open. I’ve got a feeling that things will work out pretty well and that this situation and these new neighbors might end up being a positive experience in some interesting and unexpected ways.
Mary F. Nelson
PS- Kate- Good job on the article! M.