People at risk of homelessness and youths suffering from abuse, neglect and sexual exploitation soon may have a place to turn their lives around.
The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-0 July 22 to recommend approval of a conditional-use permit for Finding Grace Ministries, which seeks to open a shelter in a vacant daycare center near Warren and Miller roads in Imperial.
The Jefferson County Council, which has the sole authority to decide land-use issues in unincorporated areas, will likely consider the application at a meeting in August.
Doreen Page, executive director of Finding Grace Ministries, said she founded the help agency in 2014.
She said to date, her group has helped 121 people from 75 families with transitional housing.
“We have four hotel partners, and we’ve spent $100,000 on hotels,” she said. “We’d like to have our own building, which we believe would make the transition into everyday life faster for our clients.”
Page said a typical client may be a single mother, working a minimum-wage job and just barely making ends meet before an emergency arises.
“It could be a car repair, a medical problem, anything,” she said.
With no money to spare, that woman might miss a rent payment or utility bill and be evicted.
Finding another place to live is then problematic because she can’t afford a high deposit that would typically be demanded of someone with a previous eviction.
“They’re forced to put all their stuff into their car – no money for a storage facility – and live with their children in their car,” Page said.
Eventually, state agencies will learn that the children are living out of a car and will take them into protective custody.
“Then it’s a lot of court dates, and maybe she can work those around her work schedule, but more than likely she won’t, which will add to the pressure,” Page said.
She said plans for the shelter call for eight bedrooms and a shared bathroom and kitchen.
She said clients would not come to the facility to seek help, but instead would continue going to a facility in Arnold, the Harbor, at 3921 Jeffco Blvd., on the grounds of New Hope United Church of Christ, which she said is not affiliated with her group.
She said clients would then be vetted with mental and physical checkups before being allowed to live at the new facility, and they would be required to find employment and pay rent while they live there.
The site largely is in a commercial area, but plans also would call for the agency to put up a 6-foot privacy fence between the site and two adjacent homes.
About 25 people attended the hearing in support of the conditional-use permit; no one spoke against it.
Planning commissioners Mike Huskey, Danny Tuggle and Tim Dugan were absent.