Controversy Fades as Residents, GSA Meet

By Melissa Arseniuk

Monday, February 18, 2008

The outrage surrounding the Good Shepherd Alliance's controversial future home in Ashburn seems to have faded. The frenzy of outraged local residents hit fever pitch in November after the GSA announced it would open a homeless drop-in center at the heart of an upscale Ashburn neighborhood.

"There was a huge over-reaction at first," said Ashburn Farm resident Dave Patch, who volunteers with GSA.

But since plans for the drop-in center were abandoned late last year, the outcry dampened considerably.

"I'm not hearing continued concerns … it seems to have calmed down a bit," Ashburn Village HOA president Rick Clements said. "People seem to be more OK with it."

The GSA invited local residents and HOA representatives to a roundtable discussion this weekend to discuss the ongoing plans and construction of the GSA's new centralized location, The Center of Hope. The facility will amalgamate two GSA properties into one, moving the administrative offices from Leesburg and their thrift store in Sterling under one roof, at 20864 Ashburn Road.

Most in the small crowd at the Mills Recreation Center in Ashburn Village Saturday were HOA representatives. Only a small handful of independent residents attended.

Over the course of the two-hour meeting, two major concerns were brought forward: elections and illegal immigration.

GSA board chair Joyce Trickett was quick to respond to both issues, first assuring residents that GSA clients will not use the center's address for elections purposes or voter registration, and therefore will not vote in Ashburn elections.

She also said that the GSA has signed an affidavit to not provide any services to illegal immigrants.

"We tell them to part," Trickett said, when asked how the organization responds to illegal immigrants seeking services.

Outside the Good Shepherd Alliance's Center of Hope in Ashburn. (FILE PHOTO)

There were also questions concerning the location, specifically, why Ashburn?

GSA board member Bob Ohneiser explained the GSA moved to relocate its thrift store and offices after the thrift store's rent increased significantly from the current $15,000 a month, making operations financially unsustainable.

The organization contacted commercial real estate brokers and ultimately decided on a former roofing company's building in Ashburn. Originally listed at $2.25 million, the GSA paid $1.88 million for it, and plans to renovate and expand it into a functional 7,000-square-foot space.

"This is just right," Ohneiser said. "It's a piece of crap that we can fix up a little bit and use as an office, and … it's in the perfect location to collect donations and, if you upscale the inventory a bit, it's in the perfect place to have an eclectic-type store."

"We expect the project to be ready by - fingers crossed - late April, perhaps early May," added GSA spokesman Nicholas Graham. "And it really will be a very, very beautiful, landscaped site that we're going to be, I think, very proud of."

All in attendance were pleased to hear repeated promises to not include a drop-in center as part of the Center of Hope.

"We will not have a drop-in center at that location," said Graham, who chaired the roundtable discussions. "That site is going to be strictly confined to our offices and a thrift store."

Graham and other GSA representatives repeated themselves throughout the two-hour meeting, stressing that the GSA never will operate a drop-in center for its homeless clients at its facility on Ashburn Road.

Previous plans featured a drop-in center at the location, but they were scrapped last year amid objection from the community.

Other changes since 2007: Plans for showers and lockers have been eliminated, as has an idea for a lounge area.

"We had plans to have a shower there, and locker rooms there, primarily to serve staff – only to serve staff and volunteers – but we decided to take (them out)," Graham said.

In place of the lounge, a small law enforcement field station will be constructed, then outfitted with a phone, computer, phone, and fax machine. It will be available to law enforcement at any time of day, seven days a week.

The kitchen and pantry areas, however, will remain. "We need them to feed staff, to keep donations that we get on a daily basis," Graham said. Trickett said the kitchen will not be used to supply meals for persons other than volunteers or staff members.

Some residents were concerned Saturday that the Center of Hope will attract scores of undocumented homeless people to the neighborhood.

GSA board member Mark Gunderman assured the concerned HOA residents that will not be the case.

"It would be extremely rare for people who we have not yet ever communicated with to all of a sudden discover us in Ashburn and decide to drop by," he said. "We would tell them that it's the office and we don't provide services here to people who … aren't existing clients."

Gunderman estimated between five and seven homeless residents made their way to GSA's current administrative offices, located on Sycolin Road in Leesburg, seeking services last year.

All of GSA's clients are screened homeless families, mothers and children. "The GSA does not take in and process single men as part of its mission," Graham said. "Primarily what we have in our shelters are women and children. But there are men that are part of families that we take in, but we don't take single men anymore. … that was a change of mission that took place in 2006."

Trickett said clients go through three criminal background checks, including a state and a police search. "It's an elaborate, comprehensive and thorough process," she said, adding all employees are subject to an FBI background search prior to starting their positions.

The center will house GSA administrative offices and an upscale thrift store, Hope's Treasures. The administrative offices will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, while Hope's Treasures will have slightly altered hours, likely being open until 7 p.m. during the week and on Saturdays. The building carried a rural commercial zoning designation.

The building will be locked and closed outside of business hours. A gated six-foot fence will surround the grounds, and video surveillance will monitor activity from all corners of the building 24 hours a day.

"Security-wise, it's pretty tight," Trickett said.

The GSA's homeless clients – the organization has 36 at any given time – will have access to the center by appointment only, during regular business hours. Clients will access the facility to use the computer to search and apply for jobs, use a telephone and meet with their GSA caseworkers. The Center of Hope will not provide food, shelter or other services to clients. Those responsibilities will remain with designated shelters, food banks and soup kitchens in other areas of the county.

Moving forward, Trickett said the renovation site will be a busy place. "In the next month there will be a lot of work done," she said, including electrical and plumbing work.

The GSA holds resident roundtable discussions once a month. The date for the next meeting has not been finalized, but Graham said it will likely be the third Saturday next month, March 15. Once again, the meeting will be held at Mills Recreation Center in Ashburn Village, 43895 Grottoes Drive, at 2 p.m. Further details will be available on the GSA Web site http://www.loudounhomeless.org.

Tagged: Ashburn, Center of Hope, Good Shepherd Alliance

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