Kenosha---Another battle is brewing over “First Step,” a volunteer-run center for the homeless on 63rd Street west of the Kenosha Medical Center campus.
The place, which is licensed by the city as a “refuge center”--- not a homeless shelter--- has faced growing resentment from neighbors, who are upset over loitering, people sleeping on the sidewalk and litter.
In a bid to allay neighbors' complaints, First Step founder and director Tracy Sanchez is proposing to close the center during the day while keeping it open at night. She’s hoping that the change will be enough to convince a majority of city council members to support license renewal. "We're hoping and praying," she says.
She envisions area churches stepping up and offering daytime shelter during the cold-weather months.
Jan Michalski, the alderman of the district, isn’t impressed. "It's too little, too late," he says.
First Step serves between two and three-hundred people year, most of whom aren’t eligible for other shelter programs because of either addiction or mental health issues, or an unwillingness to work with social workers. Sanchez wonders what'll happen to them if her place is forced to close.
At the direction of the mayor, an ad-hoc committee of community leaders is trying to mediate the dispute. Its next meeting is a week from Wednesday.
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