The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

First of all, I really appreciate the information you provide about the community - it's vital and interesting. Thank you.

Recently, a situation has come to my attention in this neighborhood that I want to bring to your attention, as I am not sure how to handle it.

As you may recall, I live in the Chatham. I have been dog-sitting for friends since last Monday, and therefore am out with the dog around 5 p.m. to walk her. Since having the dog on these walks, I have noticed a number of people, all men, traipsing through the Chatham parking lot in the back around this hour, walking across Arlington Oaks property and even walking on the sidewalk in front of the Chatham (inside the boundary line) to get to the church on the corner of Pershing and the Route 50 service road, the Arlington Assembly of God.

The purpose of their travels is to obtain food - the church provides food for the homeless. While I applaud the efforts of the church to serve the community, I do have concerns about how those who obtain these free meals conduct themselves in our neighborhood. And I have heard some anecdotal stories to that effect - someone being asked for money in our parking lot, cars being broken into, human waste found on the premises, people living and hiding in the large pine trees on Route 50 (right in front of the church) and the assorted beer cans and bottles I have seen dotting this area.

I spoke with our property manager about this (and he is quite good at what he does) and he informed me that he has approached the leadership of the church twice about this problem, and was basically told that because the church does not control these people, there is nothing they can do about it, and that they would continue in the same vein. Basically, he said "too bad." Not very neighborly.

I had a couple of questions after hearing this - why can't the church make an announcement at these free meal opportunities and ask those to whom they provide service to please respect the neighborhood and not trespass on private property? Does the church provide any other social services to help these people and thereby stave off other bad behavior? And, as a neighbor, shouldn't they try and make the area comfortable and safe for all the residents?

I'm frustrated and at a loss here, but I have felt uncomfortable more than a few times when out and about at this hour. Any thoughts you can provide on the situation would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Nancy Bukar

Labels: church, homeless, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 1:45 PM