Giving Matters: >From NIMBY to BANANA
Posted 2007-01-16 by Bret N. Bicoy
Giving Matters is a periodic column on philanthropy by Bret Bicoy of the Marietta Community Foundation. This column was published in the Marietta Times on June 29, 2003. We?ve all heard of the infamous ?NIMBY? syndrome ? ?Not In My BackYard.? It?s the ever-growing chorus of individuals opposed to a community project because it?s too close to their home. We?ve seen it in our own community recently with the opposition to the Phoenix Home on Marietta?s west side. NIMBY isn?t necessarily a bad thing. Placing a halfway house for paroled sex offenders next to a city park filled with children would be a really bad idea. In some situations, opposition to a project is not only reasonable, it is absolutely justified. It?s hard to offer an educated opinion regarding the west side neighborhood that rejected the Phoenix Home unless you?ve taken the time to visit and talk with the people involved. Perhaps this is one of those circumstances in which opposition was justified. In any case, what is worrisome is not the opposition to any particular project, it?s the growing sense that some folks are opposed to every project. It?s almost as if we need to create a whole new acronym to describe the sentiment. Let?s call it ?BANANA? ? Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone. If this sentiment becomes too pervasive, it will present a real problem for those who live in the shadows of our society. For it is the group home (like the Phoenix Home) that plays an integral role in serving some of society?s most vulnerable residents. There are people in our community who are challenged every day with their own developmental disabilities, but it is a group home that can offer an opportunity for them to enjoy a reasonably independent life in a safe neighborhood setting. For some, a group home is a better alternative to institutionalization. Traumatic injury to the brain or nervous system can greatly limit a person?s ability to live without some level of assistance. There are group homes specifically designed to allow these individuals to live normal lives in residential neighborhoods just like the rest of us. For the addict who has just completed a treatment program, simply returning them to their same circle of friends who continue to abuse drugs or alcohol can be disastrous. A group home provides a transitional living environment for these recovering addicts and helps them break the cycle of addiction once and for all. This is the theory behind the Phoenix Home. Study after study demonstrates that human service group homes generally do not increase police calls in a neighborhood, add to blight in an area, or depress property values. In 1996, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded a literature review by Michael Dear, Ph.D. and a team of nine other researchers at UCLA. They evaluated 47 different studies relating to the placement of various kinds of human service group homes in residential neighborhoods. Their charge was to determine if the relevant research allowed for any general conclusions to be drawn that might help guide future public policy. The report?s conclusions were astonishing in their simplicity. ?It seems clear from the studies contained within this bibliography that there is an overwhelming volume of evidence supporting the contention that human service facilities do not significantly impact the market values of properties around them. They do not make proximate properties harder to sell, and they do not destabilize the neighborhood by inducing relocation.? On occasion, there may be completely legitimate reasons to oppose the placement of a particular group home in a specific neighborhood. But we should refrain from the knee-jerk reaction to oppose every effort before fully understanding the implications of our opposition. Let us never forget that it is not merely a building that we are turning away. It could just as easily be our own brother, sister, or child who might one day need the supportive living environment of a group home. They are not asking for any special treatment, just an opportunity to live their lives in peace the best way they know how.
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