Thanks for digging into this a little further. It seems like small town news stories that get national attention don’t always paint a full picture, particularly when there’s an obvious moral high ground and an obvious victim or villain. I had several questions, because the story wasn’t adding up.
What sort of monster would object to sheltering homeless in a cold snap? The entire city government, including the fire department?
There’s an established shelter next door. Why did no one object to that? <thanks for answering this one, btw>
Since when did small towns in northwest Ohio start persecuting churches for no apparent reason? (for anyone out of the US, this population tends to be deep red GOP, very devout churchgoers, etc.)
This isn’t the first time there has been a cold spell. It happens at least once a year in January or February. Do the homeless in this tiny town just freeze to death every year?
There’s clearly a lot more to the story, but with national coverage like this I’d guess they were able to take in enough donations to cover basic repairs to the property.
I don’t see it as government refusing to allow shelter in a cold snap or persecuting the church. They didn’t go kick everyone out. The city gave notices that in order to do so, the building must be up to code. I read it as they supported the venture, but wanted the safety in place just like anywhere else, which the church ignored more than once.
Pre-national attention they could have done this. Pre “cold snap” they could have done this. The couple (a husband and wife run the church) did a ton of investing in this building, installing showers and rooms, etc. They just ignored the safety pieces that they decided weren’t important.
Next door is less a shelter than halfway house. It has around a dozen people at any given time who live there long term and who are screened and only allowed to stay if they promise to praise the Lord and volunteer at a church (this is not hyperbole). They do not take in people during a cold snap.
I’m not sure about the general homeless situation in Ohio. Most states open winter shelters during cold snaps, which I’m sure Ohio did, but tons of them can require no needles, drug use, etc so the people just don’t go. I don’t know if that’s the case here.
However, when I was looking into that halfway house, it seems tons of people used to wait around a nearby park as they waiting for their appointments, and could wait several days hoping for a spot. This seemed to be at least a portion of the church population
Thanks for digging into this a little further. It seems like small town news stories that get national attention don’t always paint a full picture, particularly when there’s an obvious moral high ground and an obvious victim or villain. I had several questions, because the story wasn’t adding up.
What sort of monster would object to sheltering homeless in a cold snap? The entire city government, including the fire department?
There’s an established shelter next door. Why did no one object to that? <thanks for answering this one, btw>
Since when did small towns in northwest Ohio start persecuting churches for no apparent reason? (for anyone out of the US, this population tends to be deep red GOP, very devout churchgoers, etc.)
This isn’t the first time there has been a cold spell. It happens at least once a year in January or February. Do the homeless in this tiny town just freeze to death every year?
There’s clearly a lot more to the story, but with national coverage like this I’d guess they were able to take in enough donations to cover basic repairs to the property.
I don’t see it as government refusing to allow shelter in a cold snap or persecuting the church. They didn’t go kick everyone out. The city gave notices that in order to do so, the building must be up to code. I read it as they supported the venture, but wanted the safety in place just like anywhere else, which the church ignored more than once.
Pre-national attention they could have done this. Pre “cold snap” they could have done this. The couple (a husband and wife run the church) did a ton of investing in this building, installing showers and rooms, etc. They just ignored the safety pieces that they decided weren’t important.
Next door is less a shelter than halfway house. It has around a dozen people at any given time who live there long term and who are screened and only allowed to stay if they promise to praise the Lord and volunteer at a church (this is not hyperbole). They do not take in people during a cold snap.
I’m not sure about the general homeless situation in Ohio. Most states open winter shelters during cold snaps, which I’m sure Ohio did, but tons of them can require no needles, drug use, etc so the people just don’t go. I don’t know if that’s the case here.
However, when I was looking into that halfway house, it seems tons of people used to wait around a nearby park as they waiting for their appointments, and could wait several days hoping for a spot. This seemed to be at least a portion of the church population