A local advisory team approved an agreement between unhoused shelter The Aston’s tenants and neighbors ahead of the facility’s opening last Wednesday in an effort to bolster transparency amid some community opposition to its opening.

The Community Advisory Team earlier this month voted unanimously to approve the 11-page, nonlegally binding Good Neighbor Agreement, which outlines what communication about The Aston community members should expect from the Department of Human Services, the advisory team and Friendship Place, the shelter’s provider. CAT co-chair Jim Malec said the advisory team’s members can amend the document by a vote at any time and that its embedded agreements — like the terms of use for The Aston shelter’s residents, metrics to be shared with the public on the number of participants and their length of stay and a website where neighbors can contact Friendship Place — will hold District officials, CAT and neighbors accountable for ensuring the shelter runs smoothly.

“It’s sort of taking these general ideas about what transparency would look like and putting them in concrete language, which, in my opinion, creates a level of accountability,” Malec said.

The agreement states that DHS will garner community feedback during monthly CAT and ANC 2A meetings, respond to community concerns and share updates within 10 business days if the shelter’s provider changes. 

The agreement also states that DHS planned to create a website with information on the shelter ahead of its opening, though officials have not yet released one. The website would include updates “relevant” to The Aston’s housing program, contact information for Friendship Place and its program manager, Jeremy Jones, and information on how community members can submit feedback and nonemergency concerns, the agreement states.

At the November CAT meeting, DHS Deputy Administrator Anthony Newman said the website is not yet available and he couldn’t confirm when it will be complete. Interim co-chair to the CAT Sakina Thompson said in an email that the District is working on a solution to the website’s absence for next week.

The body approved the agreement after soliciting community input for more than six months, Malec said. The Aston is the second unhoused shelter in Ward 2 and the first to offer apartment-style living for unhoused populations like medically vulnerable people and families.

“I still understand that this is a new thing for the community,” Malec said. “There’s some anxiety about it. There’s some anxiety about how it’s going to work.”

Amid a year of delays, The Aston drew support from the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, a local elected group, but some community members voiced concerns about the cleanliness outside the property and security at the shelter — which the agreement addresses through a trash and recycling plan and staffing The Aston with case managers, support staff and security. The West End D.C. Community Association, an anonymous group of locals, also sued the District twice and filed a zoning appeal to delay the shelter’s opening.

“There are checkpoints throughout this document that touch on some of these things that neighbors have brought up,” Malec said.

The CAT also discussed creating a dashboard to track updates on The Aston’s residents and volunteer opportunities for the community, adding a glossary detailing the partners and terms within the document and including specific metrics about the shelter’s progress like average number of participants and how many are then placed into permanent housing. Updates to the website, a glossary of key terms and metrics are all part of the document.

“When people start worrying, it’s when there’s not transparency,” Maria Valleca, a former CAT member, said at an August CAT meeting.

Over the last seven years, District officials have established advisory teams to oversee shelter openings across wards. Each of the teams outlined commitments about the exterior facility, safety and security, a clear and expedient process for communication and problem solving through drafting a neighbor agreement.

“One of the tasks that is always assigned to community advisory teams is the development of a good neighbor agreement,” Malec said. “So that, I think, was baked into the DNA of the CAT from the beginning.”

The District in the agreement states that officials will not convert The Aston into a low-barrier shelter, meaning it will not accept people on a nightly basis.

The agreement states that the District will notify the community through ANC 2A and the CAT if officials intend to change the shelter’s use, which includes use for housing programs that are “significantly different” in time or style than The Aston’s program, migrant housing, hypothermia shelters, a drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility, a medical facility for unsheltered patients or a youth shelter.

The agreement states that the Department of General Services will maintain the exterior of the building and continue “necessary structural repairs” to the shelter, including repairing The Aston’s roof.

The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission unanimously passed a resolution in May urging the D.C. Council to fund roofing repairs in fiscal year 2025. In August, officials said they would fully replace The Aston’s roof in FY 2025.

The agreement also states DGS will develop a plan to pick up trash and recycling on a regular schedule once the shelter opens to prevent trash buildup around the property.

“Just as neighbors are expected to keep their property well-maintained, presentable, and within the design standards of the community, so shall the District keep the Aston presentable and in good condition,” Section B of the agreement states.

If District officials consider The Aston’s opening a success after operating for two months and there are no “unresolved” safety concerns, the shelter will jump from housing 50 to 100 tenants. DHS reserves the right to determine how many tenants to admit, the agreement states.

“DHS will aim to augment the operation by up to another 50 residents, with a maximum capacity of 100 participants at any given time throughout the operation of the facility,” Section A of the agreement states.

The agreement states District officials will share negative outcomes or feedback related to any of the criteria with the CAT on a quarterly basis, including data about pest control code violations, trash pickup, facilities concerns, updates on construction, average number of Aston tenants, number of neighborhood concerns, a staffing summary and the number of 311 and 911 calls.

Officials also agreed in the Good Neighbor Agreement that they will report the average length of stay for Aston tenants, the number of successful participants exiting into any type of housing and the number of total participants, the agreement states.