April 29, 2008 09:55 pm
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By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
Opposition to the proposed sale of a downtown church building to a homeless shelter and ministry is building up steam.
Those opposed are citing a potentially negative economic impact on efforts to revitalize the downtown, as well as safety concerns for schools and businesses as their reasons for being against the sale of the First Baptist Church to City of Refuge.
“This city has an ordinance against restaurants serving liquor within a certain distance of a church,” said John Koucky, who owns property at 515 and 524 S. Main St. He spoke out against the sale, citing the building’s proximity to Memorial Middle School, at 310 W. Eighth St. “I certainly think we could have an ordinance that says a homeless shelter can’t open within a certain distance of a middle school,” he said.
The First Baptist Church congregation is scheduled to vote during a meeting Wednesday, May 7, on a motion to sell the building at 633 S. Pearl Ave. to City of Refuge for $600,000.
About 25 people attended a meeting Tuesday morning at Columbia Traders, 420 S. Main St., that was organized by members of Main Street Joplin.
Dan Anderson, the pastor and founder of City of Refuge, did not attend the meeting and was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
Toby Teeter, president of the nonprofit Main Street Joplin, said most of those attending the meeting were members of the organization, but the decision to circulate a petition was not a formal action of the group, in that no formal vote was called. Petitions were distributed to any members who wanted them, and Jeff Neil, owner of Columbia Traders, agreed to keep some copies in his store to provide other residents a central place to sign the document.
Nancy Morton, a member of the church who lives in the 100 block of Sergeant Avenue, several blocks to the north, said last week that she was circulating a petition against the sale of the church building for any notion of it being used as a homeless shelter.
John Joines, chief executive officer of the Economic Security Corp., the area community action agency, said at the meeting that his organization is working with the city on coordinating a “summit” on the homeless issue.
“It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight,” he said. “Our goal is to talk to those three main players: Souls Harbor, City of Refuge and Watered Gardens.”
No date has been set for the summit.
Joines said his organization also provides temporary shelter services that house people around the city, but those in the ESC program must sign a contract stating they will actively work, seek work or continue their education.
Joines said he is working with the city on a comprehensive plan that potentially could include similar agreements for the shelters now in operation.
“We’ve got to get them (homeless) actively doing something,” he said. “It helps no one to have people loitering in front of a building all day.”
Joines said the ESC also provides services for homeless people who are unable to work because of disability or mental illness.
“There are those who are mentally ill who should not be on the streets, and there are other places for them,” he said.
He said 500 to 600 homeless people are within the city of Joplin on any given night.
Teeter said the proposed sale of the church should be put on hold until the city conducts the summit. A summit was proposed by former Mayor Jon Tupper at a City Council meeting in March, after the council rejected City of Refuge’s request for rezoning to accommodate a shelter operation at its current location on East Seventh Street.
Teeter said he believes the summit would help coordinate funding and services for a “hodgepodge” of programs and shelters already in the downtown area.
“There’s a lot of entities that basically are underfunded, or they are run by individuals that don’t have proper training to do what they’re trying to do,” said Teeter, a corporate lawyer and downtown resident. “It’s a lot of people that have good intentions. But they are not trained to handle a drug-treatment center. They’re not trained to do job training.”
In addition to City of Refuge at 502 E. Seventh St., the downtown area has three other faith-based centers providing meals, support services and shelter for the homeless.
The Salvation Army Family Life Center, at 320 E. Eighth St., provides hot lunches seven days a week and a food pantry. It also provides shelter for families only.
Souls Harbor Mission, at 912 S. Main St., provides shelter for families and single people, as well as clothing and food baskets. The mission has a strict policy against residents using drugs or alcohol.
Watered Gardens, at 531 S. Kentucky Ave., offers a food pantry, showers and daytime services, but no sleeping accommodations. An expansion to include a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center is in the works.
Robert Morgan, pastor of the First Baptist Church, attended the meeting and answered questions from some of the group members.
He said the church has been trying to sell the building for at least five years, but that the congregation received “no legitimate offers” initially.
“It’s a difficult dilemma,” he said. “We want to be open to the voice of the community.” He said the property has been appraised for sale to another church or as a commercial property, but he declined to disclose the appraised value.
“I don’t want to speak for the church, but we felt like it would be great if another ministry in the cause of Christ continued to go out of that building,” he said. “And not a 7-Eleven or a Circle K or whatever.”
Anderson has been looking for a new home for his ministry since the City Council voted 5-3 in March to deny City of Refuge a change in zoning that would have allowed it to try to convert its leased quarters in an old warehouse at 502 E. Seventh St. into a shelter.
Current zoning
The First Baptist Church building at Seventh Street and Pearl Avenue is commercially zoned, which would allow it to be used as a shelter. But city officials note that code issues might come into play that would require changes to the building before it could be used as a shelter operation.
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