The interior of the converted storefront on the corner of Third Avenue and 20th Street in downtown Rock Island hummed Thursday morning.
Four tables were occupied by pairs of men sipping coffee. A woman sat at a table by the window looking out on 20th Street. Another couple sat in the adjacent TV room, watching a rerun of “Family Guy.” A few more men stood as they waited to get access to the room where the free clothing hung, a welcome opportunity for those in need of something warmer for the now-chilly October mornings.
The Third Place QC is the latest attempt in the Quad-Cities to help unhoused people, those dealing with housing and employment issues, and those living in poverty. It is a place, its founders hope, where people will find community and safety.
The Third Place officially opened its doors on the first day of the month, an opening that defied the city’s moratorium on the establishment of new shelters. That moratorium ends Monday.
The Rock Island City Council also is expected to vote on a first reading of a new set of ordinances aimed at licensing and regulating all shelters in the city during Monday’s regular meeting.
The moratorium and the prospect of ordinances sparked a slow-boil controversy between the city and the nonprofits in the downtown that try to serve unhoused and impoverished residents. The ordinances were developed in response to complaints about an emergency winter shelter that opened in January, as well as fears that the presence of shelters was hindering downtown development.
The conflict came to a head when The Third Place opened its doors.
“We don’t want conflict with the city or anyone who lives or has a business in the downtown,” said Christie Adamson, who is the co-founder of The Third Place QC, along with Cloey Miller.
“But we don’t regret opening when we did,” Adamson continued. “We have only been open for seven days, but I do feel a growing sense of community. It’s been crowded in here.”
Ordinances, Third Place on Monday’s agenda
Fifth Ward Councilman Dylan Parker said he expects the council will take up the possible approval of ordinances directed at the licensing and regulation of homeless shelters and other services like food pantries at Monday’s meeting.
Parker also said he expects the council to approve The Third Place QC and “grandfather” it in, exempting it from ordinance guidelines that address how close a shelter can be to a school, a park, or another nonprofit.
The moratorium and the possibility of ordinances left The Third Place in a limbo throughout August and September, because Adamson and Miller planned to open Oct. 1 and announced those plans during the summer.
In August, the Rock Island City Council voted 6-1 to approve a moratorium on new facilities that serve homeless people and those in need while city staff crafted new ordinances for the licensing and regulation of homeless shelters in the city.
Adamson and Miller founded The Third Place QC after working in directorial positions at the Davenport-based Humility Homes and Services. They saw a need for daytime services for the growing population of unhoused and impoverished people in the Quad-Cities.
The Third Place was envisioned as a place where people could do things like laundry or work on finding a job, or simply have a safe place to stay from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
When it opened on Oct. 1, The Third Place risked losing the support of the council and the city. Parker said he was “not happy” and felt the moratorium was necessary while the ordinances were written.
Parker said the draft of the ordinances council members will see Monday removes earlier draft language that limited the number of shelters to “one overnight shelter” and “one daytime shelter” in the city of Rock Island. Also removed was language that prevented people from storing belongings overnight at shelters or other agencies.
Parker said the “land use limitations” remain in place. That means a new shelter cannot be within 1,000 feet of another agency, school or park.
Parker addressed the “grandfathering” of The Third Place, noting it is an estimated 750 feet from Christian Care, which operates a shelter.
“That ordinance will not apply to The Third Place, recognizing the fact they were already in the process of establishing their services before the plan for ordinances was announced,” he said.
‘A story behind the story’
Parker was candid when he described the last few months and the council’s effort to work with city staff to draft ordinances to license and regulate shelters. Agencies, like Project NOW and Christian Care, said they were left out of discussions about the ordinances and were only shown the ordinances after drafts were written.
Parker said the effort to draft ordinances stemmed from constituents who were, in some cases, “traumatized” by Rock Island’s emergency winter shelter, which was located in the old Project NOW building on 19th Street.
Parker said the effort to craft the ordinances was “… not necessarily a pleasant experience,” but he is “enormously proud of our community.”
“What we faced is not an unusual issue across the county or in the Quad-Cities,” Parker said. “The issue of how to address the concerns of homeless people and people who need help and balance that with the needs of the community and businesses is not an unusual issue.
“I’m proud of this city for having a really difficult conversation. These are difficult and delicate issues and there is not really a ‘right’ answer. My goal all along was to address the concerns of my constituents in the most minimally invasive way as possible.”
Parker said the effort to balance the needs of all downtown residents “was perceived as an attack.”
“Relationships have been damaged and that is regrettable,” he added. “But this is Rock Island — we fight, we argue, like family. … At the end of the day, we’re all still committed to our community, even through all the drama.”
Parker said he hopes a conversation between the city and nonprofits and business owners will continue.
‘Starting to build something here’
Adamson and Miller were busy Thursday morning. From 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., five men and one woman were in line for clothing. On Wednesday, over 100 cups of coffee were served to those who entered doors of The Third Place.
Adamson said she and Miller are “not doing it all on our own.”
“First, our neighbors have been amazing. A number of businesses have reached out and offered donations or help,” she said. “Second, the donations have really come in, and we have needed them.”
Adamson told the story of the man who lives in his van. He makes ends meet by cleaning apartments and came to The Third Place QC for the same things as many others — a place to sit and have a cup of coffee.
“He stopped by a few mornings ago and cleaned our windows,” she said. “He didn’t want money. He said he just wanted to do his part and try to help. We have had a number of individuals stay after we close and help clean the tables and floors and the bathrooms.
“It’s their way of saying thanks, I think. Their way of saying they want this place to work for people. We have been crowded. I think this is a place the downtown needs.”
Adamson offered one more story.
“Two mornings ago, before we opened at 8 a.m., there was a pretty confrontational verbal argument near our doors,” she said. “And, rightfully so, a neighbor called the police.
“But in the meantime, one of the Downtown Alliance outreach workers settled things down and actually got the two people to settle things peacefully. By then, the (Rock Island) police showed up and I asked that the man be trespassed from (The Third Place QC). I’m just afraid of this place making a bad impression on neighbors.”
Adamson said the Downtown Alliance’s outreach worker approached her and explained one of the men was having a really bad day and had started the confrontation.
“(The outreach worker) talked to me about it and we talked to the police. No one was arrested. No one was trespassed. And the next day, the man showed up and apologized and shook my hand.”
Adamson credited a “sense of community.”
“We listened to each other and gave each other a chance,” she said. “And we had the people, the agencies, in place to help and make a difference. I think we are starting to build something here.”
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Tom Loewy
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