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Resident urges Moorhead to address homelessness; council highlights intergovernmental and opioid-response efforts
Summary
A longtime Moorhead resident urged the city council during public comment to find new shelter space and improve services for people experiencing homelessness.
Beth Ann Quigle, a Moorhead resident for 64 years, told the council during the Jan. 27 public comment period that local shelters are strained and urged the city to identify safer, more suitable shelter space.
“I was on the street for four days,” Quigle said. She described Micah Mission (also called Our Churches United in the meeting) as overcrowded with about 61 people on a recent night even though the facility can take about 140, and she asked why an unused building (referred to during public comment as Golden Living) could not be repurposed for shelter.
Mayor Shelley Carlson and City Manager Molly responded that the city has had ongoing conversations with Micah Mission’s new executive director about space and that converting a building into a shelter requires zoning changes and certifications. “You don't just become a homeless shelter,” the mayor said, noting regulatory and zoning steps are necessary.
During council reports, Council Member Deb White said homelessness will be one of three topics at an upcoming intergovernmental retreat involving municipal, county and school leaders and state legislators. White tied the retreat to collaborative efforts on related public-health issues, including the opioid epidemic.
White also described recent county grants and programs intended to reduce public-health risks in Moorhead. Clay County received funding for four sharps disposal kiosks that will be located in the Moorhead area, she said, and for an Opioid Naloxone Education Program that includes pharmacist education and distribution of approximately 30 naloxone boxes to high-risk areas. White also credited Lieutenant Mike Detloff of the Moorhead Police Department for running an overdose-mapping effort that shares timely warnings about contaminated drug batches.
The council did not take formal action on shelter locations or funding during the meeting; several members said collaborative, intergovernmental planning is underway.
