CCB MEDIA PHOTO
NOAH Shelter in Hyannis
HYANNIS – A local civic association says that Hyannis should no longer be a playground for those who don’t want to be sober and don’t want to help themselves.
The Hyannis Civic Association released a statement this week supporting the closure of the NOAH Homeless Shelter by the September 2016 deadline set by the Day Center Planning Committee.
“They have to get these homeless people off the downtown area so that Main Street can come alive again,” Hyannis Civic Association President William Cronin said. “And we’ve got to disperse these social services throughout the Cape.”
According to the civic association, the Hyannis downtown area houses 72 social services areas and another could be on its way as the state has entered into an agreement to place a drug day treatment center on Main Street.
The association said the state wants to put the center where the clients are, but, they say, the continued focus on having all the social service agencies where the clients are has severely damaged the quality of life in Hyannis.
In addition to the closure and relocation of the NOAH shelter, the association said there should be a center placed in the Lower Cape and another in the Upper Cape.
“It is time for the other villages and towns to share the opportunity to help those less fortunate by funding these three centers,” according to the statement.
The association said each town should also develop one or more homes with strong supportive services to help those who are “graduating” from the three new program facilities.
“It is time that we all participate in helping those who want to get better,” the statement said. “For those who do not want to get better, we strongly encourage the county and the state to provide facilities for those individuals.”
Cronin said he has read several editorials about residents calling for compassion.
“But these compassionate people are living in Osterville, they are living in Centerville and living in Marstons Mills. They are not living here in Hyannis,” he said. “If they want to be compassionate, why don’t they take some of these organizations off our hands?”
Cronin said the business community in Hyannis is also fed up with the current situation.
“When a shop owner has to open up in the morning and find syringes in the flower boxes and find human excrement in the doorway; when the people who bought the Carousel have had all kinds of vandalism down there, what do you think the attitude is going to be?” he said. “They are not happy.”
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