Nonprofit eyes shuttered St. Casimir for emergency youth shelter

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 6 — Plans are underway to open a community center and emergency youth shelter inside a historic and recently shuttered church in southwest Lansing. And residents in the Moores Park Neighborhood are welcoming the concept with open arms.

The Lansing Planning Commission, by 4-0 vote, approved on Tuesday a special land use permit to allow Child and Family Charities to move into the former St. Casimir Catholic Parish on Sparrow Avenue. The proposal now heads to the City Council for final approval.

After 99 years of operation just south of Moores Park, St. Casimir closed its doors over the summer as COVID-19 spread and financial pressures mounted against the church. Child and Family Charities now plans to purchase the 3-acre parcel from the Catholic Diocese of Lansing, and renovate it into an emergency shelter for up to 14 children between the ages of 12 and 17. 

Several neighbors along Britten, Sparrow, Hess and Delevan avenues offered their full support for the plans last night, crowding a virtual Planning Commission meeting with nearly an hour of positive remarks at public comment before the Commission unanimously referred the special land use permit to the Council.

“These plans are in the very early stages,” said Julie Thomasma, CEO of Child and Family Charities. “We want to be good community partners in this venture. The goal is to relocate and consolidate our services into this one main campus. We’re bursting at the seams right now in our current space."

Child and Family Charities — much like St. Casimir Catholic Parish — has operated in Greater Lansing for a century. Initially formed as the Ingham County branch of Michigan Children’s Aid, the agency is currently headquartered along Five Oaks Drive in an office park just south of Jolly Road.

If the plans are approved, the former St. Casimir site would become the primary campus for the nonprofit and include a variety of counseling services, as well as employment and educational resources — primarily for youth — as well as 24/7 supervision to the 14 kids sheltered inside.

Architect Todd Gute worked with Child and Family Charities to find a larger campus and also helped design an addition to the St. Casimir building in 2000. With easily accessible parking, classrooms, a gym and a kitchen, the vacant parish already had many of the amenities required for an emergency shelter. Still, the plans call for several million dollars in interior renovations, he said.

Zoning Administrator Sue Stachowiak recommended the special use permit be approved, noting that Child and Family Charities  has a “really good track record" in the city. The plans also don’t call for any exterior renovations which could jeopardize the architectural character of the neighborhood, she said.

“This is the typical location for these types of facilities,” Stachowiak added. “That’s why they’re allowed in residential neighborhoods. There’s adequate parking and nearby bus routes. Near Barnes Avenue is a good location for this. All of the utilities are in place to service this facility.”

Thomasma also assured commissioners that sheltered youth — though able to freely leave the site for work and other activities — will be under near constant supervision. Stachowiak also said the Lansing Police Department has no reason to suspect the shelter would attract crime.

Staggered counseling sessions throughout the day would also ensure the site doesn’t attract too much traffic into the otherwise quiet westside neighborhood, Thomasma told the Commission.

Thomasma couldn’t offer a precise timeline for the renovation plans this week given the relatively early nature of the concept, she said. The special land use permit still requires a public hearing at the City Council before it can be scheduled for a vote. Both haven’t been scheduled.

Child and Family Charities offers a full-spectrum of support to over 7,000 children, youth and families annually in the Greater Lansing region through at least 25 different types of counseling and other community programs, according to the website. The primary mission of the nonprofit organization is to “strengthen and support children, families and individuals” in the community.

St. Casimir first announced its impending closure in April amid a declining number of both priests and parishioners. Bishop Earl Boyea filed a formal decree that closed the parish in July. Its final mass was live-streamed in August. Church officials are still planning some form of socially distanced 100th anniversary celebration and “reunion mass” later this year. 

Check back for continued coverage as the plans advance to the City Council.