(KTTS News) — A Springfield agency that provides shelter for the homeless is suing the state of Missouri.
Eden Village says House Bill 1606 threatens to hinder the work of organizations helping the homeless.
Press Release
On Friday, August 19th, The Gathering Tree, dba Eden Village, filed a lawsuit in Cole County Missouri against the State of Missouri and Eric S. Schmitt (in his official capacity as Missouri Attorney General) alleging that House Bill 1606, as it relates to homelessness and our organization, is in direct violation of the Missouri State Constitution.
On July 29, 2022 Missouri’s Governor, Michael L. Parson, signed House Bill 1606.
Among the hundreds of pages in this Bill is a section, totally unrelated to most of the Bill, which threatens to hinder the work of organizations assisting Missouri’s homeless community.
A small section of this Bill’s provisions change the landscape by which organizations in this State are deemed eligible to receive funds for the support of the unsheltered.
For example, the Bill requires state and federal funds for the homeless to be used only for shelters in parking areas, in camping facilities, and in temporary, individual and congregate shelters.
Funds for organizations providing shelter to the homeless are now limited to these models of shelter, now mandating how organizations can provide shelter and eliminating permanent shelter options.
Failure to meet these new government mandates threatens to prevent organizations, especially those providing permanent shelter, from receiving assistance through the federal and state government.
In addition to limiting how organizations can provide shelter, the Bill also increases criminal penalties for the homeless, making it a Class C misdemeanor for sleeping or camping on state land.
Further, the Bill commandeers the state’s Attorney General’s office to enforce local ordinances punishing the homeless for their presence on sidewalks and streets.
In short, the Bill takes the design of solutions out of the hands of organizations doing work with the homeless and takes control away from municipalities and local law enforcement making daily decisions about enforcement of municipal rules and regulations.
Further criminalizing homelessness threatens to unnecessarily increase our prison population, create more obstacles to the homeless finding shelter and employment, and dehumanize those already pushed into the margin of society by addiction, mental health diagnoses, poverty and circumstances beyond their control.
It should not be a crime to be homeless.
For years The Gathering Tree has offered permanent housing solutions to the homeless through its organization, Eden Village, which operates two separate facilities for permanent housing of the homeless in Springfield, Missouri.
Eden Village also operates an overnight campground for temporary and emergency shelter in Springfield.
Today The Gathering Tree, d/b/a Eden Village, filed suit in Cole County to prevent the enforcement of House Bill 1606.
While the vast majority of HB Bill 1606 has absolutely nothing to do with homelessness, provisions inserted in this Bill limiting funds to organizations like Eden Village, and criminalizing homelessness, are unacceptable.
The Gathering Tree supports bipartisan efforts to find solutions for Missouri’s needs but adding provisions that harm the unsheltered should not be a part of any set of solutions.
We urge Missouri’s lawmakers to take immediate action to remove those parts of HB 1606 harming the unsheltered.
