Land Bank transfers Bowman Street lot to People Helping People

MANSFIELD — People Helping People of North Central Ohio will soon have its own location at 73 Bowman St. in Mansfield. 

At its Wednesday meeting, the Richland County Land Reutilization Corporation (Land Bank) board approved transferring the property to the organization that has provided daily meals for the area’s homeless population at Mansfield’s Central Park for the past three years. 

The property, situated near the intersection of Bowman Street and West Dickson Avenue, will be transferred to People Helping People, after the Land Bank moves a fence and adds a four-vehicle parking lot for the organization’s volunteers. The investment will cost $1,550.

Additionally, the city of Mansfield will need to remove a guard rail, and its planning commission will address the position of the parking lot. 

“I’m excited to have a place we call home that’s accessible to the people that we provide the meal to, and in addition, to have some shelter by doing a pavilion,” said Vivian Winters, executive director of People Helping People.

She explained that the organization began serving meals at Central Park because it’s where she found people in need of the organization’s service.

In looking for a new location, Winters was determined to stay nearby.

“We didn’t want to go past Bowman… (and) this sort of goes right in that area of our demographics of the population that we serve,” Winters said about the organization’s potential location. 

She explained that the organization didn’t go looking for a new location on its own. 

“We were very content staying on the square, but the mayor has asked us to move for some time,” Winters said.

Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker spoke to Richland Source after the meeting. 

“We have been trying to find a different location for them to move to because one of the main things we’re trying to do is to bring jobs to Mansfield,” Theaker said. “Yes, we need to feed the homeless…but businesses have expressed concerns to me. They feel that they’d like to see a different location.” 

The city of Mansfield and the Land Bank, he said, have both worked together to find a better location. Other locations have previously been considered, but fell through. 

“I’m pleased that they were able to find a property,” Theaker said. 

While the move wasn’t planned, Winters is optimistic about the new location. 

“Once we finally thought that we were going to move, we became excited to know that we would have this pavilion. That it would be our own place. That somebody couldn’t continually try and force us out,” she said.

“Plus, we want to be good neighbors. So if there are businesses that weren’t being supportive, we don’t want that to overflow to the population we’re serving. We don’t want them to be mistreated, they have enough stigma as it is.” 

An anonymous donor has agreed to build a 20-by-30-foot pavilion with electricity at 73 Bowman St. 

“So in the winter, when we’re there for that hour serving, we could help with maybe some heat or whatever we need for that little bit of time for somebody to get warm,” Winters said. 

She also shared plans to build a fence, add picnic tables and maybe plant a community garden in the future.

“I have this vision of it being very beautiful for them,” Winters said.