By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

A three-hour homeless summit Tuesday night resulted in a commitment to move forward with a collaborative plan of action that would draw upon members of city government, faith-based organizations, social-service organizations, the business community, and the homeless themselves.

“What we hoped to accomplish tonight was to draw from the crowd what they thought the needs were, and we did do that,” Mayor Gary Shaw said. “There’s a need to do more and to work together. And I think we did do that.”

Organizers of the city of Joplin’s first summit on homelessness said they were pleased by the turnout at Memorial Hall.

“I think just the number of people that showed up was a sign that there are people who are willing and wanting to do something,” said Shaw.

More than 200 people, representing over a dozen faith-based and social service organizations attended the summit, which had been convened to address what was referred to as Joplin’s “homeless crisis.”

More than 450 people in Jasper County are considered homeless, according to a 2008 count by the Homeless Coalition of Jasper and Newton Counties.

The summit was first proposed in March by then-Mayor John Tupper, as a way to help coordinate the numerous agencies and churches that provide shelter and support services to area homeless. While he attended the summit, Tupper, who has since been ousted from his council post, declined to comment on the event before its start Tuesday night.

At the time, the City Council had voted 5-3 to deny a rezoning request from City of Refuge, a ministry providing shelter to area homeless at a former warehouse on East Seventh Street. The shelter is scheduled to close Aug. 1, putting some 30 residents who would otherwise be homeless out on the street.

No decisions were reached Tuesday night on whether the city’s best interests would be served with continuing to allow homeless shelters such as City of Refuge to open downtown, or whether the city would move to relegate those businesses to another part of the city. The potential sale of First Baptist Church at 633 S. Pearl Ave. to City of Refuge had been put on hold, pending the outcome of the summit.

During his speech to the crowd, City of Refuge’s pastor, Dan Anderson, said no matter what happens, his ministry would continue.

The event’s moderator, Robert Saunders, a consultant from Liberty, suggested the city might convene a follow-up meeting in three months, but Shaw said he believes the city should move more quickly.

“I think that’s too far down the line,” he said. “As soon as we get some information to go on, and then build that steering committee. We know we see a problem and we know we have a lot of enthusiastic people.”

Shaw said Saunders will compile the information gathered Tuesday night, and present a report to City Hall. At that point, Shaw said, city officials will schedule another meeting to move forward with formulating a plan of action.