GASTONIA, N.C. — Monday, a Gastonia church closed its encampment where dozens of homeless people lived. Some have been there for months, some even a year.
This is the same church in a legal battle with the city of Gastonia.
Faith Hope and Love Community Enrichment Ministries said they were between a rock and a hard place. They continued to face fines from the city and with the lawsuit looming, closing the encampment was the only thing they felt they could do.
Pastor Moses Colbert is the executive director of the ministry.
“It is heart-wrenching because we have all of these people and we have to put them off the property and they have nowhere to go,” Pastor Moses Colbert said.
Many people lived in tents on the property. Pastor Moses Colbert said the population reaches over 100 at night. They were all told they had to vacate by Monday morning.
“We are still going to feed them, let them take showers and we are still going to let them get their mail here and everything, but they won't be able to stay here,” he said. “That’s the sad part.”
The ministry is currently being sued by the city of Gastonia and facing over $100,000 in fines for violating city and zoning ordinances, by having two large trailers on the lot, for example, without the proper permits.
“These were going to be mobile classrooms for education, and that is all we have been wanting to do is to educate these people,” he explained.
The church leadership said the city is making it hard for them to serve the homeless.
“They complain about the trash,” Pastor Monica Colbert said. “They come and look and they want to give us citations and things of that nature.”
Gastonia’s Assistant City Manager Adrian Miller said they have provided the ministry with the info they needed to follow the rules.
“He’s had nine to 10 months to come into compliance and he hasn’t done that yet,” Miller said. “So right now you can see they don’t have ADA accessibility. So if you are using a walker, a stroller or you are in a wheelchair you cannot get into those buildings. They have to be available for everyone and they have to meet all of the building requirements and he has failed to do so, so far.”
Miller adds the encampment is an unsafe environment for those who live there. Police, fire and EMS have responded to over 660 emergency calls since May of last year.
“As long as people are camping on his property with his permission that is not a violation,” Miller said. “But if they are violating the law while they’re camping…such as assaulting each other, sexually assaulting each other, drug use, drug deals, murder -- that is a problem.”
The latest incident happened on Aug. 20. Gastonia Police said an argument led to a deadly shooting on the property.
City officials said its goal is to get the people who want help the resources they need.
“We rallied our nonprofit community to see what resources we can provide and coordinate to make sure that the people he is displacing have some sort of information and resources to get the help that they need,” Miller said.
The church said they have been asking for these resources.
“We’ve been begging them to come for two years,” Pastor Moses Colbert said. “We have been begging them to come and now they are here.”
The church said although it was tough, they had to make the hard decision to close the campus to ultimately protect the folks who lived there and to protect themselves.
As people left, there was some frustration. Although folks said the environment wasn’t perfect, it was home and it provided them with a consistent place to sleep. Now, they just hope to get the support they need off the campus.
Benny Norwood has been homeless for eight months and had a tent on the campus.
“We all think they are drug addicts; we all think they are bad apples but there are some good people here and people have to realize that... these are hard times,” Norwood said.
He said he's been able to rebuild through the ministry.
“I lost my job because I had surgery. I was staying in a hotel room, trying to live there paying day by day and lost that. And here I am homeless,” Norwood said. “If it wasn’t for this place… this place is a miracle.”
The city’s community partners were in a nearby parking lot until about 3 p.m. Monday afternoon, including the Salvation Army, substance abuse counseling, and crisis counseling to name a few. The city said about 60 people requested to get some information or connect with resources.
“I signed up for all of them and I will be going with Phoenix counseling center,” said Mary Hard, who has been living on the campus since January. “I will be going with Phoenix for seven days and hopefully, they will be able to find me a place to live.”
Norwood said he will continue to use the services at the church as he looks for work and tries to get back on his feet.
“Some people have to have that mentality, you can’t stop you just have to keep going,” Norwood said.
Now outside of the services the church provides, anyone found on the property would be trespassing.
Pastor Moses Colbert said he hopes to still work with the city to combat the homeless crisis. When it comes to the lawsuit, the ministry is scheduled to be back in court on Sept. 5.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.