“I’m a big supporter of the Family Promise network, where homeless people are housed in local churches, so I think that decentralization is probably a good idea.”

— Clay Belcher, business owner, Lawrence

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a good idea because I think it’s pretty sad that people, instead of focusing on what can fix the problem, they want to shove these people away and pretend they don’t exist.”

— Amanda Sprague-Brunk, social welfare major, Lawrence

“No, I think it should probably stay downtown in a more central area. I think it would better serve people for it to be closer to downtown.”

— Ellen Waters, retail manager, Springfield, Mo.

“No, because the shelter needs to be located where it can provide the most good for the most people and that currently is downtown.”

— Robert Bickers, teacher, Lawrence