THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
Barclay: PADS Workshop A 'Sell Job'
Although the Park Ridge Ministerial Association held a PADS homeless shelter information night Monday, at least one resident went away unimpressed.
The association held the PADS Community Information Night at St. Mary's Episcopal Church on Monday, Apr. 28. In an earlier interview, Rev. Amity Carrubba of St. Mary's said she wanted to engage the neighbors in conversation. "We'll see together what solutions or creative ideas might come out of those discussions."
Judy Barclay saw the results differently.
"There was no dialog," she said. "It was simply being preached to and being spoken to." Barclay reported representatives from two of the churches spoke followed by two people from PADS. "Each gave a five-minute sell job," she said.
Carrubba had called the night a chance for residents to ask questions of leadership in the PADS program as well as current volunteers in an "information fair-type setting."
Barclay explained there were individual booths set up in the auditorium leaving her troubled by what she called "divide and conquer."
"Every question that was presented by a resident, the only person who heard the answer to that question was the resident," Barclay said. "Had they stayed in church and done a Q&A session... I think that it would have probably been a far better scenario."
Carrubba planned to address residents' concerns including security, meals, and what's it like to volunteer. Barclay wanted the same thing.
"I think a lot of people went there hoping to have their questions answered and their fears settled," Barclay said. "I don't think people with questions came away thinking their questions had been answered."
Although Carrubba remains optimistic about starting the program at the church in October of 2008, Barclay still hopes for real conversation between the parties.
"We were preached to and educated on how evil anyone was for not thinking this was the right thing to do," Barclay said. "It was not conducive to a learning experience at all."
Representatives from the Ministerial Association, PADS, and the neighborhood residents will meet in a City Council workshop on Monday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
---Craig Adams