|
|
|
Articles
|
| Plans for transitional house meet neighborhood ire |
VOICE writes, "
BY BEN WEINSTEIN
Several residents criticized plans for an ex-convict rehabilitation facility in Northeast last week, saying the area already has its fair share of social-service providers.
Opponents of Pilgrim Baptist Church’s proposed housing facility at 820 8th St. NE also said they worry it could bring more crime to the area, endangering residents and their children.
“The bottom line is my constituents … aren’t supportive of your initiative,” Northeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commissioner Raphael Marshall told Louis Jones, the church’s pastor.
Marshall, whose district includes the site, added that other nearby programs offer similar services.
“How is your facility going to better my community?” he asked.
“We understand that if we fail at this effort, we lose our standing in this community,” Jones said.
A resident, who said she lives next door to the site, told Jones she has children and asked what types of ex-offenders the facility would house."
|
“We will turn down anyone we want to,” Jones said, adding that the program won’t accept sex offenders or anyone convicted of violent crimes. He also said the building, which the church bought in 2001, will have one bed for a live-in caretaker and six for program attendees, which he said would probably be a mix of ex-offenders convicted of felonies and misdemeanors.
“There aren’t many misdemeanor incarcerations. They’re mostly felonies,” commissioner David Holmes said.
Jones said the program will administer mandatory drug tests and won’t permit alcohol in the house. “We want to keep it small and manageable,” he added.
At the neighborhood commission’s December meeting, two neighbors told Jones their homes have been burglarized several times and their cars have been broken into.
“I think we will produce individuals that will become productive citizens, that will not break into your cars,” Jones said, adding that each resident would live at the facility for 12 to 18 months, with the goal of moving into stable housing.
A woman who identified herself as a church member and Northeast resident said ex-convicts already live in the neighborhood, but participants in the church’s program will be supervised.
“Formerly incarcerated persons should be given the opportunity for another chance, and another chance, and another chance,” she said.
Jones said that mentoring ex-offenders is part of his church’s mission, adding that transitioning back to society is a critical stage of rehabilitation. The church’s mandate, Jones said, is to “help the helpless.”
Normally, Jones said, transitional housing for ex-offenders is an extension of the prison system, but the church plans to provide “state-of-the-art” facilities different from other rehabilitative housing with a homier atmosphere.
After Jones’ presentation, Marshall proposed a resolution opposing the facility, but other commissioners said there’s nothing concrete to oppose yet.
Alberti said that if the facility is classified as a rehabilitation home for substance abusers, it will require zoning approval. But Jones said, “We feel we can do this as a matter of right” based on the number of beds in the facility.
The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development is funding the project, which will cost about $500,000, Jones said. He added that the plan is in the beginning stages of the permitting process.
|
Posted on Dec 20, 2007 20:36pm.
(Return)
|
|
|
|
|
Categories
|
|
|
