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Jennifer L. Hall
From:Michelle Priest <
Sent:Friday, January 8, 2021 1:20 PM
To:Comments; City Clerk; jhall2@anaehim.net
Subject:Opposition to Grandma's House of Hope on Olmstead.
Respected Mayor, Mayor-Pro Tem, and City Councilpersons,
I very much wish to express my thanks for what Grandma's House of Hope (GGH) has done for the City of
Anaheim for women and children. The efforts of GHH have done some positive things.
Sadly, GHH has chosen exactly the WRONG location for a facility for transitional homeless, drug/alcohol
Our street is a one-entrance dog-leg with only 20 homes.
addicted men. Their website explicitly states
these men are recently sober--and the house manager is on their website--1 year sober. All other GHH locations
are on main/highly trafficked streets.
We already have a state-licensed facility for the handicapped and mentally compromised. This facility has been
a positive community member in our neighborhood.
Since the arrival of GHH, our police presence and arrivals are two-fold increase. The participants of GHH do
not engage in daily pleasantries nor do they acknowledge homeowners on the street. The participants have
brought so much fear to our small community. We question every new person, every car, every action. In a
meeting with GHH in mid-summer, we were told the participants were Anaheim homeless men who just were
going through a rough patch--we have since found out many are drug-addicted/alcohol addicted and sober just a
few months. We have not been honored and given true information.
We have 12 girls under the age of 15 on our small street--we cannot ensure their safety with additional non-
family transient men on our street. We also cannot be assured none of these men pose a direct threat to
them...as we are given no information on them. The constant revolving door makes the girls' safety under
threat. The average stay is less than 6 months for GHH participants.
Increasing the participant number will constitute over 45% of the adults on our street--none of these participants
are taxpayers. The amount of trash, traffic, and parked cars is such an issue.
The GHH participants are required (per their agreement) to be picked up/dropped off at the main street and/or
grocery--however, this is NOT happening. We see men with backpacks being dropped off-hugged, and given
money--your Uber driver does NOT do that!
I am very concerned about the current pandemic--with 13 people in a house with 4 rooms-one dedicated to the
house manager--this would necessitate 3-4 men in each bedroom--there is NO way social distancing could be
maintained. These men are NOT family members and we do not see them wearing masks leaving/entering the
home. We also do not see the space to allow for a "quarantine room" for a new participant.
As these participants are recently sober, the presence of a Malibu-style rehab facility immediately next door is
of great concern as well. We also think this would not be beneficial to have this GHH location in our
neighborhood.
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Finally, in the presentation at the Planning Commission--two of the commissioners equated GHH to a multi-
generational family--this is an inappropriate analysis. The lack of ability to provide live feedback literally put
our neighborhood at a disadvantage--GHH was able to talk and talk..we the taxpaying neighborhood was only
allowed to listen to the meeting and submit email submissions.
To close, I am in opposition to the expansion of GHH from 6 to 13 and the submission of the CUP by
GHH. Please protect our tight-knit neighborhood and keep our girls safe. GHH should select another location
more in alignment with the other locations.
--
Mahalo,
Michelle Priest MS, EdD
Motto: Don't sip from the Fountain of Knowledge, take huge, big GULPS!!
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