April 22, 2020 (this is fake)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –The West Lafayette City Council approved plans to donate land for a new homeless shelter in its downtown area after a 7-1 vote by its members on Wednesday.
The new shelter is intended to operate as West Lafayette’s primary residence for the homeless and is located on 100 State Street, near the Chauncey Street Shopping Center. The Coalition for the Homeless Inc., which helped orchestrate the dealings and will manage the construction and administration of the shelter, must raise roughly $1,500,000 in order to start building.
According to Coalition President and Executive Director of Lafayette Transitional Housing Jennifer Layton, about $200,000 has already been raised with $118,000 more pledged for donation. The coalition has also applied for a $1,000,000 land grant from the state.
The “no” vote came from council member Vicki Burch, who argued against the shelter’s downtown location.
“Our children frequent the downtown area, as do thousands of young college students, at night,” Burch said. “Is this the place to put these people, some of whom have mental problems?”
Layton believes the shelter’s downtown placement is ideal for the needs of the homeless.
“We need a central location that homeless people can get to with little effort,” Layton said. “This location will allow them to walk to the center for help, something a site out in the county or away from the city limits would not do.”
Broadcast Writeup:
In a 7-1 vote, the West Lafayette City Council approved the donation of land downtown for the construction of a homeless shelter. The decision was made to help relieve pressure on local volunteer shelters. The Coalition for the Homeless is running the operations and has generated $318,000 of the $1,500,000 needed to get the shelter up and running.
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