STATEMENT BY GOOD SHEPHERD ALLIANCE REGARDING COUNTY ZONING ADMINISTRATOR’S DECISION ON GSA ASHBURN SITE

Friday, January 25, 2008

First of all, the County Zoning Administrator, Melinda Artman, and her staff should be thoroughly praised for the hard work that they have done with regard to this complex process, and we thank them for their tireless efforts over the past few months.

Second, we’d like to thank Supervisor Waters for requesting this review – it was the right thing to do for the right reasons at the right time.

Third – and most importantly – this decision has absolutely NO impact on our current or future plans for the Ashburn site. It changes nothing. The GSA is solely committed to having the Center of Hope be the site for our consolidated administrative office and Thrift Store only. There will be no change of course in the context of this announcement - ever.

The fact is, we’ve already moved on. We have to. The issue of homelessness is getting more severe in this County every single day. That’s why we’re working diligently with the County towards a seamless transition for our existing daytime center in Leesburg to County control later this year. We long ago modified our building plans for the Ashburn site to account for the fact that there will be no daytime drop-in center at that location:  plans for the showers, lockers, and lounge area have been removed completely.

The GSA has also met with almost every member of the County Board of Supervisors and we’ve already told each one of them that, no matter what the zoning re-determination was from Ms. Artman’s office, it would not alter our plans one iota to completely forgo a GSA daytime drop-in center in Ashburn.

Yet there is something compelling that remains - something far more important than this zoning determination, though we recognize it has been anticipated for some time. It’s the simple yet tragic underlying issue of homelessness. We keep coming back to that because it’s our mission, and must be our focus – and also because the issue will be far more serious in 2008 than it was in 2007.

We urge the Ashburn community to join us in accepting closure on the zoning issue, and put it behind us. There are far more daunting and timely issues for us to address together, and we look forward to rallying hand-in-hand with the Ashburn community to help us make the daily lives of the homeless and indigent better, safer, and more humane. We need Ashburn residents’ help and their partnership, and we’re working hard to make that happen.