Photo: Lexey Swall/Staff Ethel Gross, 37, tries to keep her son, Joseph Bathis, 3, occupied with bubbles while his younger brother, Jason Bathis, 2, takes a nap in their room at St. Matthew's House on Tuesday in Naples. Gross has been staying with her sons at the homeless shelter for the past four weeks after she lost her job and could no longer pay rent in Fort Myers. 'St. Matthew's House gave us the extra support that we needed,' Gross said. 'There should be a place like this in every city.' In an attempt to circumvent a possible moratorium on building homeless shelters in Bonita Springs, St. Matthew's House on Monday afternoon filed documents with the city for a new facility it hopes to break ground on within the next year.In a full page ad that ran Tuesday in the Naples Daily news, the board of directors addressed an open letter to Collier and south Lee County residents, accusing the shelter's opponents of being 'vocal, angry, driven by blind fear and largely uninformed...' - Marco, FL

Lexey Swall/Staff Ethel Gross, 37, tries to keep her son, Joseph Bathis, 3, occupied with bubbles while his younger brother, Jason Bathis, 2, takes a nap in their room at St. Matthew's House on Tuesday in Naples. Gross has been staying with her sons at the homeless shelter for the past four weeks after she lost her job and could no longer pay rent in Fort Myers. "St. Matthew's House gave us the extra support that we needed," Gross said. "There should be a place like this in every city." In an attempt to circumvent a possible moratorium on building homeless shelters in Bonita Springs, St. Matthew's House on Monday afternoon filed documents with the city for a new facility it hopes to break ground on within the next year.In a full page ad that ran Tuesday in the Naples Daily news, the board of directors addressed an open letter to Collier and south Lee County residents, accusing the shelter's opponents of being "vocal, angry, driven by blind fear and largely uninformed..."

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