City Government

Shelter Move Put On Hold

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean issued a statement Thursday which is bound to be received with some degree of hope by NW Boise residents who opposed a homeless shelter on State Street.

She joined with the police chief and Jodi Peterson, Executive Director of Interfaith Sanctuary in a decision to put the proposed (and opposed) move of the homeless shelter from 16th Street to State Street.

Here is the statement:

In recent months, I was joined by Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee and Our Path Home partners at several neighborhood discussions on homelessness. Rather than focus on the work of the partnership and the challenges before us, the attention was on the proposed location of Interfaith Sanctuary. The tone and tenor of the conversations don’t sit right with me, Our Path Home partners, or our residents, including those in crisis.

This morning, Jodi Peterson, Executive Director of Interfaith Sanctuary, and I met and came to the decision to put the proposed project on hold. We know that shelter will remain a critical component of Boise’s response to homelessness, and that we can and will do shelter better.

Our next step is to quickly convene a task force to conduct a shelter needs analysis to evaluate locations for the new shelter, the State Street location will be included in this analysis. As we move through the process of ultimately identifying the right location for a new emergency shelter, I ask that we center conversations around our values of compassion, community and service.

Comments & Discussion

Comments are closed for this post.

  1. Oh wait, STOP, those people vote!
    Jun 11, 2021, 1:01 am

    Ya, it’s best not to crap on your political base. Quick, switch to stealth mode on the shelter move.

    This is a small momentary victory. Too bad these same hostile voters are not at all concerned about getting pushed out of their homes by the funny money tax and spend policy. Pssst: Inflation is coming, Whole Foods prices at Winco very soon. This Mayor has done what?!? to address low wages in this area? Oh, she gave all city employees a raise on her first day.

  2. When I hear the term “shelter”, I relate it to being temporary. The problem I often see about shelters are that they don’t offer much assistance to give long term help so the people in need can grow to the point where they no longer need the shelter. It reminds me of a bad chiropractor that never fixes the problem but temporarily fixes the pain every week.
    The only way the citizens can afford real help is to have one in the cheapest part of the county. That way it can be large enough to expand to help anyone in need.
    This is just my opinion but I feel like we all need to contribute our constructive ideas for a solution that will work. Otherwise Idaho will end up being just like all of the other failed states where people are fleeing from.

  3. Buying TIme
    Jun 12, 2021, 7:24 am

    Don’t be fooled. Standard move to just buy time and remessage the issue so the banksters on the IFS Board and their wealthy friends can make the highest ROI on the Shoreline URD lands.

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