JLCS – Overdoing philanthropy?

I am seeing that the comments on the last thread went there, so here is my two cents for what it’s worth. I am not unhappy with the overall behavior of John Lewis Coffee Shop. I think that there is a genuine need to help the homeless and people who are going through a hard time. I’m just not sure that JLCS is doing this in a way that is best for the community. As my thought process developed on this, I decided to consult with some people that I know… a few Davenport Police officers and a Davenport Firefighter, who also works part time on the ambulance in Davenport.
The accusations always fly about how JLCS attracts crime and the homeless are the cause of it. Though I appreciate the concern of neighbors, the police do not seem to be overly concerned with them, as they have far more issues with rental properties than JLCS could ever dream of. It seems that the overwhelming consensus is that the issue with JLCS residents is that they are frequently intoxicated and sleeping in back yards, alleys, etc. As far as their crime actually having a victim, it doesn’t seem to be overwhelming as it is made out to be. In addition, I wouldn’t attribute this to JLCS alone, it would happen anyway.
The other consensus, which tends to rely on less speculation, is that JLCS is much bigger than it needs to be. The majority of the residents that the police and medical personnel deal with are not from here. The homeless do state on a regular basis to the police that they came here because they heard about the benefits and services that were available.
Of the roughly 3 million that JLCS has spent in their fiscal year ending 2005, half of it was on salaries. A large portion of dollars are involved in development as well. With the closing of the lunch time meal that they served, a seemingly lower expense than the development that they are doing (160K vs. 2.5m in outstanding mortgages), seems to make it look like they are more interested in growing and obtaining property then they are “…work(ing) with the greater community in challenging the root causes of poverty and affecting systemic change through development activities.” It seems to me that if you are going to address the root cause of poverty you should provide food, shelter and programs to get people back to work, and in their own homes. That doesn’t mean to me that you should spend millions in public funds to develop consolidated areas of affordable housing that has the potential to lower property values, i.e. Cobblestone.
To me if JLCS wants the support of the community they need to stop attracting homeless here, working to provide needed services which should focus on providing food and temporary shelter and truly affect systemic change. I am very much into philanthropy and helping the poor, but I do not support taking it so far as to negatively impact our community.

Source: www.guidestar.org, JLCS FYE 2005 IRS 990.