VOA Illinois pulls back from Joliet project after showdown with city manager

Volunteers of America Illinois is dropping plans to build an apartment complex for women recovering from drug addictions after facing more resistance from City Hall this week.

VOA Illinois will not move forward with the plan, President and CEO Nancy Hughes Moyer said Thursday.

“There’s nothing to be gained by continuing a very public and ugly battle about this project,” Hughes Moyer said. “It is clear this is a discussion for another day.”

Hughes Moyer said the decision was made to drop the project after a meeting on Wednesday with City Manager James Capparelli.

“He remains adamant that he does not want this project in Joliet,” Hughes Moyer said. “He believes homeless people are bad for business and bad for taxpayers. I tried to explain to him that our project is not a homeless shelter.”

Hughes Moyer said the meeting was short, and there was no serious discussion about questions Capparelli raised about the project at the Jan. 18 meeting of the City Council, when the matter was tabled.

“We attempted to address all of those questions,” she said. “I would say we never got a chance to enter into a substantive conversation about the project at all.”

“I just don’t believe it’s the right project for the city of Joliet,” Capparelli said. “I believe Joliet does plenty for the homeless and social services. I believe it’s time for other communities to do some of this.”

Capparelli said there are “hidden costs” to social service centers, including police calls and tax-exempt status for property developed by nonprofit organizations. He also said clients could become homeless in Joliet if they are removed from the social service program.

“If this is such a good idea, why can’t Homer have this? Frankfort? Or Naperville?” Capparelli said. “There’s not a demand for it.”

Capparelli said if there is a regional demand for such services they should be built elsewhere than Joliet.

VOA Illinois proposed building 42 apartments that would provide residences and services for women recovering from opioid addictions and other substance abuse issues. The apartments would have been built on the former Silver Cross Hospital campus and across Copperfield Avenue from Hope Manor Joliet, an apartment complex opened by VOA Illinois in 2017 for homeless veterans.

Hughes Moyer said the proposed Hope Manor Village Joliet would serve to deter homelessness by providing support for women while recovering from substance abuse.

The Zoning Board of Appeals gave a unanimous recommendation of support for Hope Manor Village Joliet when it reviewed the project in September. It was to go to the City Council for a vote in October. But Capparelli kept it off the council agenda until the Jan. 18 meeting, when it was put on the agenda in the form of a vote to deny the project.

VOA Illinois asked then that it be tabled.

Hughes Moyer said after talking with council members, she believed there may have been four votes of support for Hope Manor Village but did not know if it would get a fifth vote needed for majority approval.

The matter is on the agenda for the City Council on Tuesday. But Capparelli said he expects the council will vote to remove it from the agenda without a vote on the project.