The DeKalb City Council meeting began Monday night with DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen calling for a moment of silence to respect the family of NIU student Antinette Keller.

The opening saw an ordinance for renovations to DeKalb’s Homeless Shelter, Hope Haven, received and filed.

The DeKalb City Council saw a presentation by Lisa Sharp, owner of Sharp Architects Inc., and Lesley Wicks, Executive Director of Hope Haven on behalf of Hope Haven homeless shelter in an attempt to sway the council to pass an ordinance allowing Hope Haven to expand the capacity of the shelter.

The proposed ordinance would rezone property located on the two lots Hope Haven currently owns at 1145 Rushmoore Dr., from Planned Development-Commercial (PD-C) to Planned Development-Residential (PD-R), in order to renovate the shelter.

According to Sharp, the ordinance will allow an additional capacity for 30 more emergency residents, 16 of which would be men, seven women and seven children. A separate dormitory would be designated specifically for men and another for women and children to avoid mixing genders.

Hope Haven currently has room for 24 emergency residents (14 men and 10 women with none set aside for children). In addition, Wicks said Hope Haven maintains a consistent waiting list of 25 to 30 people.

During the presentation Sharp and Wicks emphasized that 92 percent of Hope Haven residents in 2009 were DeKalb County residents and 74 percent were residents of the City of DeKalb.

“74 percent are our citizens, and it is our duty to protect all of our citizens,” Sharp said.

The statistics show Hope Haven’s focus on helping local residents and getting the homeless back on their feet. Less than five percent of residents return to Hope Haven after leaving, and 92 percent have found permanent housing.

One opponent in the audience voiced her opinion.

“We have enough problems as it is dealing with the people in Greek Row,” said Pat Bragg, a DeKalb resident.

“It costs 20 to 29 dollars per day to shelter a homeless person,” Wicks said “It is the most cost effective and humane way of solving this problem. We create a stable anchor in that neighborhood and Hope Haven is a resource and a support system.”