There will be hamburgers, hot dogs, music and, perhaps, a little neighborhood fence-mending this evening when the homeless, their advocates and people living near the Lawrence Community Shelter gather for a two-hour block party.

Co-sponsored by the shelter, LINK and the Oread Neighborhood Assn., the party begins at 6 p.m. in the 200 block of West 10th Street.

“The goal is just to get together in a positive setting and see if some of the stereotypes about the homeless and some of the barriers to better communication can be torn down,” said Loring Henderson, director of the shelter at 214 W. 10th St.

Some neighbors have accused shelter organizers of not doing enough to control the clientele’s trespassing, drug use and drunkenness. Others have defended the shelter’s efforts.