To the editor,

I am writing in response to Gary Marsh’s letter to the Press this week regarding the homeless shelter run last winter by Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering at Christ UCC on Market Street. I am one of a group of neighbors who recently delivered a letter to Bethlehem City Council which described many troubling incidents that occurred last winter, and which Mr. Marsh denies actually happened.

While Mr. Marsh described a positive environment inside the shelter, his denial of the incidents we described illustrates his ignorance of and lack of concern for what was going on outside the shelter. He was well aware of many of these incidents at the time, showed no concern about them then and incredibly continues to deny them.

In the four months the shelter was open, there were 84 calls to the police, including seven drug arrests and one overdose death (these numbers came from the city; I didn’t make them up). Three neighbors found hypodermic needles on their property. Two girls out walking their dog were sexually harassed by a shelter resident, and two other girls and a woman (in two separate incidents) were subjected to indecent exposure.

In those four months, neighbors were subjected to screaming at all hours, loud music, loitering, panhandling, trespassing, and public urination, defecation and vomiting. Many neighbors did not feel safe walking near the church. Two neighbors have moved away, and at least two others are seriously considering it. Twenty-seven people signed the letter to the city and stood up in support as it was read at the city council meeting on Nov. 7.

These things happened - we didn’t make them up – and Mr. Marsh’s insistence that they didn’t happen is deeply insulting and offensive. More importantly, it makes it impossible to come to a resolution that will benefit everyone. I share with the other neighbors who signed the letter a deep concern and support for housing the homeless; we are not heartless snobs. Downtown Bethlehem is the most economically diverse neighborhood in the city, and this is reflected in those who signed the letter. I live within a block of two soup kitchens, low-income housing, million-dollar homes, and everything in between. This diversity enriches the neighborhood, and it is a safe, enjoyable place to live. Several churches in the neighborhood, including Christ UCC, participated when this shelter rotated on a weekly basis, and that worked. But it completely changed last winter when BES decided to change to a single site.

We are merely asking BES to be a good neighbor.

Thank you,

Virginia Fowler

Bethlehem