The Gathering Place, a peer-support organization located at 7 N. Congress St., is moving forward with its Conestoga Hut Project, a proposal that would provide temporary shelter to three homeless individuals in Athens.
The three micro-shelters on wheels will be built in The Gathering Place’s fenced parking lot, which has 24-hour surveillance. The project is being funded by the Sisters Health Foundation, along with community donations and partnerships.
Ginger Schmalenberg, the executive director of The Gathering Place, expressed the need for these huts, as she said she has seen the challenges faced by homeless people worsen. The Gathering Place serves about 400 people annually and sees between 30-40 visitors daily, many of whom experience housing insecurity, addiction and mental illness.
Schmalenberg is also involved with the non-profit Co-Create, established by the Athens County Foundation to combat the housing situation in Athens.
“Co-Create was started because of the housing situation that we were starting to see,” Schmalenberg said. “13 years ago, when I worked here, you maybe had one or two unhoused people a year that I would see that would come here. It was so easy to get them housing, but now we have served 120 people in the last six months.”
Schmalenberg said those selected to live in the huts are current members of The Gathering Place and will receive ongoing support for mental health and recovery needs.
Megan Benjamin, a senior studying social work and a student intern for The Gathering Place, said stable shelter is a crucial first step toward recovery and independence.
“In order to thrive, you need the most bottom, basic portion of the pyramid,” Benjamin said. “You need a place to stay. You need food and water. How are you supposed to go to work and be a productive part of society when you didn't have somewhere warm to sleep, food to eat, water to drink? This is an opportunity, and having this gives them the opportunity to be able to get a job and get enough sleep to go work a shift.”
Although many residents and advocates have praised the initiative, some expressed safety concerns during the Oct. 20 Athens City Council meeting. Residents of 15 N. College St. said they would feel unsafe walking home at night with huts located near their home.
“We understand what the project is trying to do, and we support that,” Allison Perry, a senior studying early childhood education and business, said at the meeting. “I think it’s more about where they are trying to put them. We live in a house of all girls. We’re not very good at defending ourselves if something were to happen.”
Schmalenberg emphasized all Gathering Place members undergo background checks due to the number of members who have experienced abuse or some form of trauma, and it does not accept those who have committed violent crimes or crimes of a sexual nature.
She said while she has been at The Gathering Place, she has not seen anyone break the rules or come on the property past hours.
“When people say, ‘I feel unsafe because of the location,’ but they're in a solid house with lockable doors and windows, and the people I serve who are not housed also don't feel safe … why is their safety more important than someone who is unhoused?” Schmalenberg said.
Benjamin said of the 45 nearby residents whose doors she knocked on, 34 provided feedback. Among those responses, 94% expressed support or neutrality toward the huts, while 6% were opposed.
Pete Wuscher, a long-time member of The Gathering Place, said if he had it his way, there would be an entire street for the huts, named Conestoga Avenue, and said he thinks the initiative will benefit the whole community.
“I know that the majority of the community is receptive and improving, there still seem to be dissent from here and there, and I think that those people could maybe just try to understand what it's like to be poor and even near homeless and what a struggle it is, and what an amazing thing The Gathering Place is doing in the city,” Wuscher said.
