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It had the backing of City Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller.
It had more than a million dollars in federal funding.
It had the support of City Hall officials.
It had the signatures of 69 neighbors from a three-block radius who supported the project.
All that was missing was a zoning variance to begin renovating the stone convent at 209 E. Price St. into 12 efficiency units.
But in a decision that shocked the project's supporters, the Zoning Board of Adjustment shot down the request on June 3. No reason was given.
In an interview, the ZBA's vice chair, Lynette Brown-Sow, said the board felt there were already too many "group homes and group living facilities" in the area.
"Some homeowners and residents felt their neighborhood was being oversaturated," Brown-Sow said. She said "possibly 10" people from the immediate area opposed the project.
Mayor Nutter has launched a major campaign to address the city's escalating number of homeless people. Last month, he pledged to place 700 homeless families and individuals into permanent housing through a mix of housing initiatives.
But the failure of such a well-supported, small project like My Place Germantown underscores what the mayor will be up against.
"This is symbolic of what is going to have to be overcome to make a significant impact on the problem of homelessness," said Sister Mary Scullion, an advocate for the homeless and co-founder of Project HOME, a nonprofit provider of housing for the homeless.
Push-back from neighbors is always an issue with housing for the homeless, advocates say. In February, the city was forced to cancel an 85-bed shelter in Kensington because it did not have community support, including objections from the City Council representative.
In contrast, My Place Germantown has the backing of Miller, who sent a letter of support to the zoning board.
Miller said the project fills a need for long-term housing for the homeless. "This is an apartment project, not an institution," she said.
Mary Ellen Graham, executive director of My Place Germantown, said she came up with the idea for the apartment project while volunteering for Face to Face, an outreach program for the poor at St. Vincent De Paul Church at 109 E. Price St.
She noticed that most of the people getting free meals or health counseling were the "invisible homeless" of Germantown - men living in abandoned houses or cars, in the basements of friends, or in nearby Vernon Park.
"There are so few options for homeless men," Graham said.
Advocates have long argued that the city does not need more shelters but more permanent housing with services for the formerly homeless.
Graham said My Place Germantown would not be a shelter, but efficiency apartments with kitchens and private bathrooms. She said each tenant would be screened and given a monthly lease that could be revoked if someone does not follow rules or causes problems in the neighborhood.
Graham said people with Germantown roots would be given preference. The men could be enrolled in addiction recovery programs or residents of longer-term shelters.
She said the facility would have round-the-clock staff to help residents, who also could access social services available through Face to Face a block away.
Community Ventures, a nonprofit housing developer, had agreed to build the project. The partners lined up about $1.4 million in public money and grants to buy and renovate the convent.
"It's a small project, with an experienced developer and an experienced operator who is already serving the same population right down the street with no issues," said Dainette Mintz, director of the city's Office of Supportive Housing, which handles housing for the homeless.
"We felt they could provide housing for this same population, be a good neighbor, and help the city move forward with its new homeless strategy," she said.
At a zoning hearing on May 7, about 10 opponents attended, including Angel Saysay, a mother who moved to the block five years ago.
Saysay said the neighborhood was "flooded" with homeless services. Both the Face to Face program at St. Vincent and the Faith Chapel across the street serve meals to the homeless.
"I've seen firsthand where they come out from getting their free food or other services and actually do drugs right out on the streets before going back in," Saysay said. "They're sitting out on my steps, waiting around."
Sharon Whiting also signed a petition against the project. She lives directly across the street from the convent in a new house that she bought a year ago with her boyfriend. "It's worth a lot of money and this will bring down the property value," she said.
At the zoning hearing, the board told Graham to go back to the community to address questions and concerns.
Graham went door to door and made phone calls. She sent out certified letters to opponents, inviting them to another community meeting on May 20. In a letter to the ZBA, Miller called that meeting "positive and informative."
But the day before it made its ruling, the zoning board received a fax from an opponent with a list of nearby shelters and group homes.
David La Fontaine, project director for Community Ventures, called it "wildly exaggerated."
The fax said the Whosoever Gospel Mission, three blocks away on East Chelten Avenue, housed 175 men. Currently closed for renovations, the shelter will have actual capacity for 50.
The list also included the Germantown YMCA, a half-mile away, as a transitional shelter for 150 men. The long-term shelter has capacity for 45 men.
Mintz of the city's homeless office said she wants the project sponsors to file a motion with the ZBA for reconsideration. "I don't think the zoning board had an opportunity to look at the full record," Mintz said.
Meanwhile, My Place Germantown has missed deadlines to keep its federal funding. "We're hanging on by a thread," Graham said.
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