We are a group of local residents and business owners in the South Huntington Corridor united by serious concerns regarding the permanent conversion of the Envision Hotel into a homeless shelter. Our members have directly experienced negative impacts from the current low-threshold shelter, including increased drug activity, discarded needles, trash, vandalism, harassment, and serious safety issues. We are committed to advocating for safer, more effective, and equitable solutions.

Victory Programs seeks city Zoning Board of Appeal approval to permanently convert the Envision Hotel at 81 S. Huntington Avenue into a low-threshold homeless shelter. Initially, this facility was established as a temporary measure during the Mass & Cass crisis, but now Victory Programs wants permanent status, despite significant neighborhood concerns. If approved, we anticipate continued increases in safety issues, crime, drug activity, trash, and negative impacts on community stability and property values.

Absolutely not. We firmly believe in compassionate and effective solutions to homelessness. Our opposition is specifically against the manner in which this shelter has been implemented and managed and what the proposed zoning change seeks to continue. We advocate for shelters that are well-managed, secure, and distributed fairly across the city. Examples from other cities demonstrate that smaller, service-intensive programs have higher success rates in helping unhoused individuals achieve lasting stability. We don't believe that a low-threshold shelter without more stringent conditions is compatible with a residential neighhborhood.

Our opposition stems from consistent, unaddressed neighborhood concerns surrounding the shelter such as rising crime rates, drug activity, public safety threats, sanitation issues, and harassment of residents. Additionally, Victory Programs has demonstrated a low success rate in transitioning clients out of homelessness and has repeatedly dismissed legitimate neighborhood feedback, raising doubts about their capability and willingness to thoughtfully manage a permanent shelter.

Our primary concerns include:

• Significant increases in theft, vandalism, and violent incidents—including a recent deadly shooting. A low-threshold shelter in the neighborhood can increase the amount of crime in the area significantly. An increase in property crime of 56% within 100m of a shelter was found by a study involving Vancouver's emergency shelters. (Faraji, S. L., Ridgeway, G., & Wu, Y. (2018). Effect of emergency winter homeless shelters on property crime. (Journal of Experimental Criminology, 14(2), 129–140.)
• A dramatic rise in drug-related activities, with discarded needles frequently found throughout neighborhood parks and streets. View needle reports map.
• Harassment and intimidation of residents, particularly women, near the shelter.
• Sanitation issues, unmanaged trash, and vermin problems.

A low-threshold shelter accepts individuals without requiring sobriety, participation in support programs, or background checks. While these shelters aim for accessibility, they can also present greater challenges related to safety, neighborhood impacts, and client success if not effectively managed.

The shelter operator Victory Programs' own data indicates only a roughly 30% success rate in transitioning individuals to permanent housing. Without robust management and adequate resources, low-threshold shelters often become magnets for increased homelessness, drug activity, and related issues rather than solutions.

We encourage you to reach out directly to local government officials and Victory Programs to voice your concerns clearly and respectfully. We have created an email template above which includes the email addresses of the relevant city officials.

No. To date, the city has not conducted adequate community engagement, allowing only limited opportunity for neighbors to be publicly heard on this issue, nor has the city or Victory Programs, Inc. provided transparent environmental or impact studies addressing critical issues such as public safety, crime, and sanitation. We urge the city to perform a thorough impact analysis and engage transparently with community stakeholders before any further decisions are made.

We encourage you to take action by:

• Signing our online petition
• Joining our mailing/email list for updates on group meetings and public hearings
• Using our standardized email template to voice concerns directly to local officials