CLEVELAND, Ohio — Hours after nearly 100 homeless advocates packed Cleveland City Council chambers Monday night in support of a hospitality center for the homeless at Denison Avenue United Church of Christ, the church got a midnight visit from two inspectors from the Cleveland Fire Department and six police officers.
They were there to make sure the staff of the Metanoia Project, which has been operating a shelter at the church since November, had instituted a fire watch. Fire inspectors on Christmas Eve had affixed a “cease use” order to the church’s door and noted that if the church appealed the order, it must have staff awake to act as a fire watch, in the meantime.
But the timing, and the number of police, caused alarm for the church’s pastor, the Rev. Nozomi Ikuta.
“To do that in the middle of the night, it feels intimidating to say the least,” she said. And coming after the homeless advocates’ show of force at City Hall, the timing “does not seem completely coincidental,” she said.
Ikuta said the inspectors were escorted through the property and shown the fire watch protocol that the church has used since the “cease use” order.
Lt. Mike Norman, Cleveland Fire spokesman, said the inspection was done by Assistant Fire Chief Art Nieto, who is charge of fire suppression issues, and was a routine check during cold weather and at night when the shelter would likely have a large population. Nieto was satisfied with what he saw, Norman said. The inspection lasted about 20 minutes.
“It had nothing to do with anything political,” he said. “We are really trying to work with them as they go through this process. We’re just trying to do everything we can to keep them safe. We’re going to visit regularly.”
He said police were requested because “any time we go into a situation like that where there’s going to be a large crowd of people, we’re not going in alone.”
The Metanoia project expanded to Denison UCC in November because its existing site, St. Malachi Church, had been overfilled for years. A fire inspection there set the limit at 45 people.
Metanoia offers a number of services and cots for homeless people to sleep indoors through the winter months.
Ikuta said Ward 11 Councilwoman Dona Brady told her prior to the shelter’s opening that “she wouldn’t allow it.” And shortly after it opened, inspectors from the building and fire department arrived. The Building Department issued a violation notice, contending that the church was required to apply for permission for a change of use as a shelter. The Fire Department later issued the “cease use” order and noted that the church must have a fire watch if it appealed the order and continued to shelter people.
Denison did file an appeal, which delays enforcement until the Cleveland Board of Building Standards & Building Appeals can rule on it. The church also complied with the fire watch demand and hired an architect to plan changes to comply with issues of concern raised by the building and fire inspectors. Progress toward adding lighting and exit signage has been made and plans to install a more robust fire alarm system are underway.
Monday evening’s protest was organized by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. Protesters met in the City Hall rotunda, heard comments from Ikuta, NEOCH Executive Director Chris Knestrick and Yvonka Hall of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition. They then filed into council chambers holding signs that read, “No more freezing to death,” “Keep Metanoia at Denison UCC” and “Ward 11 Supports Denison UCC.”
Many of the signs, which are not allowed into council chambers, were confiscated by Cleveland police.
The council agenda was thin and did not include any legislation involving the homeless or the shelter. As council was voting on other issues, the Rev. George Hrbek, a longtime activist and former head of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries, rose to remind council members of the danger posed by the cold to homeless people. He shouted the name of Lorraine Van De Venter, a woman who froze to death on E. 26th Street near Superior Ave. in Cleveland in 2017.
Three council members rose to express support for the protesters: Basheer Jones, who described his experience with homelessness as a child, Matt Zone and Kerry McCormack.
Zone and McCormack had met earlier in the day with city and county leaders to discuss a cold weather plan for unsheltered homeless and scheduled another meeting Thursday to which NEOCH, Metanoia and Denison UCC are invited.
Zone said during the council meeting that the county has made progress in providing shelter and permanent supportive housing and reducing the number of homeless people, but that there is still a need evidenced by those who won’t seek that shelter but still show up to Metanoia’s drop-in centers at St. Malachi Church and Denison UCC.
McCormack said a plan must be developed to assure “that we are not forgetting them or leaving them behind.”
Said Jones, “If we don’t look out for all people, we are doomed as a city.”
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