THE SALE of Hope House to Paul Sullivan Trust, Pine Street Inn’s affordable housing unit, is a volatile issue, and the Union Park Neighborhood Association’s approach has been to act as an educational clearinghouse so that people could make informed decisions. Both Jerry Frank and Norm Knickle are expressing their own personal views, not the views of the neighborhood association, which has purposely taken no position on this issue. Neither gentleman is an abutter of Hope House. This is a private sale, and the neighborhood association cannot dictate to whom property owners can sell their holdings.

The neighborhood association is made up of anyone who lives or works within its geographic boundaries, so anyone meeting residency requirements is technically a member. We are a community-minded group, with an elected board and officers. Frank is not a member of the board.

The people of Hope House have been good neighbors — no one disputes that — and the neighborhood will sorely miss them.
HARRIET FINKELSTEIN, Copresident, Union Park Neighborhood Association, Boston