A van is backed up to the church hall entrance. Supplies for the homeless are inside.
Note the sign. "All Are Welcome!"
Some in Sugar Notch do not welcome the shelter, even though it's here for only a week, and it's not scheduled to be back until the middle of summer.
The head of the group that runs the shelter stands by their record. Shelters do not create problems.
We've heard of the occasional dust up. Someone's drunk. Someone has a criminal record. I'd rather let someone questionable in rather than let four dozen freeze to death.
You see more problems in and around certain bars in the area on your average weekend night. No one says anything about that, until some drunk kid urinates on a Wilkes-Barre nativity scene. If you want an eye opener, and I've said this before, go to your local store and buy a police scanner. There are three big alcohol fueled trouble spots that keep police hopping: Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, a certain major establishment in Plains, and Linden Street in Scranton. Last time I checked, there's not a homeless shelter at any of those three places, but there are bars. Mayors think the "entertainment venues" re-vitalize downtowns. They're proud. They should be ashamed.
There are more criminals on the county pay roll than there are at the shelter.
You could do worse than having a homeless shelter in town.
All Are Welcome!
