Bad idea to put shelter at St. Mark’s

For several years the Augusta City Council and residents of the city have worked hard to clean up, rehabilitate and restore neighborhoods in town. The west side is making good progress along with the council in establishing the historic district. People have given millions of dollars for the new Lithgow library.

Now we read of the possibility of the sale of the St. Mark’s property as a campus for the homeless shelter and soup kitchen.

To be clear, all churches in this area support the good work of Bread of Life Ministries with donations of dollars, clothing, non-perishable items, volunteer hours and food drives.

But putting what constitutes a full-time business is not for the St. Mark’s property. Housing 17 elderly seniors who had lived there, had meals there and did not drive was a different matter. A campus containing multiple services with constant automobile and foot traffic of hundreds every day would be disruptive to this already crowded area.

In my opinion, all parties should look for another site.

Rosalyn Hinckley

Augusta

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