Letters to the Editor
Those Women Were Coming! Those Women Were Coming!
Paul Revere could not have said it better! Who was coming?
Eight to 10 homeless women (a true caravan) would have invaded Munson Township in Geauga County if the Munson Trustees approved a shelter across from the Notre Dame Educational Center on Auburn Road.
But the Geauga Faith Rescue Mission, which successfully implemented a men’s shelter in Chardon City, cancelled this “invasion” after a discouraging town hall meeting at the Munson Town Hall on Feb. 20, 2024.
Over 200 citizens attended, filling two large meeting rooms. There were very few voices in favor of the shelter, but there were many who opposed this potential “surge.”
Why aren’t the surrounding counties like Lake, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Trumbull, and Portage turning these people away from Geauga County’s borders?
Time for a wall around Geauga County? Time for barbed wire on the Chagrin, Grand and Cuyahoga rivers?
The Biblical 10 plagues that were cast down upon Egypt was a “day at the beach” compared to what 8-10 homeless women will inflict upon Munson and Geauga County.
What was strongly communicated at the town hall meeting?
Amid occasional shouts of “liar” from some attendees, here is what the presenters from the Geauga Faith Rescue Mission generally heard from the audience.
These 8-10 homeless women (“them”) would have cast down from the heavens the following societal plagues:
- the fire and police departments’ budgets will be strained
- the children will need protection
- the “city” will be at our front door
- the “people” from the “inner city” will be at our back door
- the “property values” will go down
- the residents in Geauga County moved here to “get away” from “those problems” (Home-grown Geauga County problems like drug possession, drug overdoses, domestic violence, school shootings, theft, political and judicial infighting, and an attempted church burning are of a more elevated nature)
In a whispered aside, one opponent to the shelter stated that the “nuns” (aka “Sisters’) were trying to “take over” the area.
After the meeting broke up, it was rumored that the great-, great-, great-, great-grandson of Paul Revere was seen riding a Ford Bronco north toward Concord on Auburn Road shouting, “The homeless women are coming! The homeless women are coming!”
But the women’s homeless shelter proposal has been withdrawn by the Geauga Faith Rescue Mission.
Actually, the warning would have been that they are coming, “One if by Laketran and two if by Geauga Transit.”
Geaugans would have had to arm the police, lock their doors, buy Kevlar vests for the first responders, install dead bolts on your doors, and hide the children!
Eight to ten homeless women were coming!
Sheldon Firem
Hambden Township
Not Thinking Clearly
Chardon High School Principal Doug Murray choosing to change two grades involving two students. His daughters. Did his daughters know that their father did this?
Children unfortunately experience some unnecessary psychological and emotional challenges when a parent is an administrator or faculty-staff employee. Sadly, it appears principal Murray was not thinking clearly enough to understand he was not thinking clearly.
One quick emotional and irrational decision is enough to get us into trouble; one quick unemotional rational decision is enough to get us out of trouble by not succumbing to distortions of logic which is a wrong idea accepted as a right idea. An untruth accepted as a truth. An emotional command to self. Once installed it operates as if by compulsion.
Oscar Wilde’s oxymoron applies: “I can resist everything except temptation.” So sad.
Dave Hancock
Chester Township
A World Without Alzheimer’s
As a long-time dementia caregiver, I understand the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on a family.
As the population of Americans over age 65 continues to grow, so will the number of people affected by Alzheimer’s or another dementia. Currently, 6.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s — a number that could reach 12.7 million by 2050, barring the development of medical breakthroughs that can delay, prevent or cure the disease. More than 220,000 of these parents, friends and family members live in Ohio.
What can be done about this public health crisis?
I am urging Congress – including Ohio Rep. David Joyce, Rep. Max Miller, Rep. Dontavius Jarrells and Rep. Troy Balderson – to continue supporting increases in Alzheimer’s and dementia research funding, and to support the reauthorization of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act this year. I encourage you to do the same.
It is crucial that we work toward increased funding for research that will positively impact the lives of Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers. Recent advancements in FDA-approved treatments that delay the progression of the disease give us hope that research and science are bringing us closer to a cure.
Thankfully, Congress can continue to play an important role in addressing this public health crisis. Please contact your local legislators and ask for their support in achieving a world without Alzheimer’s.
Marilyn King
Sebring, Ohio
Everyone Deserves a Hand-Up
While I live in Chester Township, I am concerned about zoning changes in neighboring townships and cities because these changes impact Geauga County overall.
I would not support the pending/requested change in Munson Township.
That being said, I do support the Geauga Faith Rescue Mission and I hope they find a location for the women’s shelter.
The organization is part of an umbrella of homeless-focused programs and they partner with Jobs and Family Services. The Geauga Faith Rescue mission is a non-profit, faith-based, transitional housing program for homeless men and women. Their purpose is to provide a safe and structured living environment, while assisting Geauga County residents into stability.
They provide a vital resource for local Geauga County residents who find themselves displaced from their homes due to loss of job, personal crisis and other unforeseen circumstances.
If you are looking for a program that is truly giving residents a hand up, please call them at 440-214-9916. Or visit their website at: gfrmission.org.
My family and I are going to find a way to support their efforts. Everyone deserves a hand-up.
Judy K. Zamlen-Spotts
Chester Township
