Hope Ministries wants to build homeless shelter on east side, but neighbors aren't sold

A central Iowa nonprofit wants to convert a former Des Moines elementary school turned church into a homeless shelter.

Hope Ministries, which has operated in the Des Moines area since 1915, wants to convert the former Douglas Elementary, 3800 E. Douglas Ave., into a shelter capable of serving around 100 women and children.

But neighbors say they are not sold on the project, fearing the homeless shelter could bring crime, panhandlers and lower property values.

“We’re going to have people moving out left and right,” Bob Pineager said Monday night during a meeting with Hope Ministries representatives and about 200 neighbors.

Several neighbors challenged the project's location in the Sheridan Gardens Neighborhood. However, not all those who spoke were against it. A longtime Hope Ministries volunteer said she's always felt safe when working with homeless clients.

Crystal Loving would live directly next door to the shelter and wanted her neighbors to reconsider.

“Can we not live out of fear?" she said.

Filling a need

Hope Ministries operates at six locations serving the homeless population in the Des Moines area, including a shelter for women and children near the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

If the new shelter were approved, Hope would close its shelter near the fairgrounds and relocate to the school building, which would allow it to serve about three times as many women and children, Hope CEO Leon Negen said.

Half of the 100 available beds would be used for short-term stays, according to Hope Ministries. The other half would be used for “long-term life recovery,” with clients staying for up to two years. The building also would include a dining space, chapel, classrooms and a day care.

Hope received more than 1,000 calls from women looking for a place to stay in 2019, Negen said. During the 2017-18 school year, Des Moines Public Schools classified more than 1,000 students as homeless.

“So many homeless women and children in this city need us, need a place to be. It is that simple for us,” Negen said.

Hope looked at other locations in Des Moines before settling on the former Douglas school site, he said. The building could be easily renovated into living space; the property it sits on is nearly 5½ acres that includes a playground, and it’s near a bus route on Hubbell Avenue, he said.

Douglas Elementary opened in 1908 at the corner of Douglas Avenue and East 38th Street, but the majority of the three-story, brick schoolhouse was built in the early 1960s.

The school closed in 2003 and merged with McKee Elementary to the then-new Brubaker Elementary. The building later was used as a swing school for other schools undergoing renovations and as a temporary home to the East Side Library during renovations there.

Des Moines Public Schools sold the property to Eastwood Church for $100,000 in 2010, according to district spokesman Phil Roeder, and has most recently housed Experience Church of the Open Bible.

LoopNet, a real estate listing website, lists the former school for sale at $2.6 million.

The property is assessed at $901,000 by the Polk County assessor, which lists the condition of the building as below normal.

Kathy Coady, Hope’s director of development and community relations, said the nonprofit might need to raise money for the project and likely would hire more employees to staff it.

‘They’re lowering my property value’

Fear that a homeless shelter would lower the value of neighboring properties was a common concern of residents who attended Monday's meeting.

“I can’t control people moving into my neighborhood. I can’t control property values. They’re lowering my property value and they’re lowering" the appeal of nearby homes to prospective buyers, Pineager said.

One woman challenged Councilwoman Linda Westergaard, a Realtor, asking whether Westergaard would be able to sell her home. Others in the crowd objected, saying that the claim was unfounded.

“Do the data analysis," Loving said. "Let’s let data drive our decisions, not fear and continued fearmongering.”

The only recent complaint Negen could recall from current Hope neighbors was from 2009, when children were climbing on a neighbor’s fence. But still, several people in the crowd wondered about security and whether the shelter would have guards.

“Our neighbors will tell you that they have seen absolutely no increase whatsoever in crime,” Negen said.

Hope Ministries said the proposed shelter would be staffed 24 hours and day, seven days a week, but Westergaard said she wants to see specifics on its plans for security and programs.

Neighbors also grumbled at the site selection, viewing it as preserving the well-off areas of the Des Moines metro at the expense of the east side.

“I have nothing against homeless shelters, flat out. They need the help, they need the leg up,” Pineager said. “(But) you ever seen any homeless shelters south of Grand (Avenue)? Do you see any homeless shelters in West Des Moines (near) the houses that are $200,000 homes? You see any in Johnston?”

Westergaard said she wants to see whether property values have changed near the city’s other shelters and group homes.

“Let’s find out," she said. "Have the values changed?"

The group's rezoning request is scheduled to go before the Des Moines Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 16.

Westergaard on Tuesday said she was going to ask Hope Ministries to put the plan on hold.

“I think Hope Ministries needs to come in with prepared facts, with better explanations of the programming they are going to offer,” Westergaard told the Des Moines Business Record.

An earlier version of this story misidentified Crystal Loving as a Hope Ministries volunteer.

Austin Cannon covers the city of Des Moines for the Register. Reach him at awcannon@registermedia.com or 515-284-8398.