A proposed Salvation Army shelter and community center in East Lawrence would provide temporary housing for felons recently released from prison, the organization’s director said Tuesday.

Rich Forney, administrator of the Lawrence operations for the Salvation Army, said he would like the new facility near 19th Street and Haskell Avenue to have approximately a half-dozen beds earmarked for individuals who are released on parole from state prisons and in need of transitional housing.

“As part of our practice of Christian compassion, we have to provide for those people who have paid their dues and want a second opportunity,” Forney said.

But neighbors were caught unaware of the Salvation Army’s plan to house former inmates. Several said the idea worried them.

“I’m really upset,” said Beth Ann Mansur, who represented the Brook Creek Neighborhood on a committee that frequently met with the Salvation Army to discuss the army’s plan to move its downtown homeless shelter to the new site. “When I take this back to the neighborhood, there is going to be a very upset neighborhood. People are not going to like this at all.”

Forney, though, said the Salvation Army wouldn’t allow the program to become a danger to the neighborhood or any of the other users of the proposed facility, which includes basketball courts for youths. He said the program would not accept sexual offenders or violent offenders, though specific definitions for what constitutes a violent crime haven’t been developed.

“We will not put anyone in harm’s way, but we do want to make it possible for them (former inmates) to be accepted by the general community,” Forney said.

KCK model

Forney said the program would be modeled after a similar program run by the Salvation Army in Kansas City, Kan. That program, which operates under the name Salvation Army Shield of Service, takes inmates who have committed both violent and nonviolent crimes. Ric Evans, director of the Kansas City center, said it had strict guidelines dealing with prohibitions on drinking, drug use, and fighting. The program also has a strict 11 p.m. curfew and a requirement that participants be employed and enrolled in Salvation Army counseling and training programs.

Patti Gallup, foreground, Donna Knight and Mike Adams sort canned food at the Salvation Army pantry. The shelter plans to use part of its new shelter in east Lawrence near 19th Street and Haskell Avenue as transitional housing for prisoners released from state prisons. Gallup, Knight and Adams cleaned out old food from the pantry on Tuesday.

Evans said the highly structured program actually made communities safer.

“People need to realize that they (former inmates) are going to be in the community anyway,” Evans said. “It is a whole lot better to have them in a structured environment instead of just walking the streets.”

Forney said the program would only accept former inmates with some sort of ties to the Lawrence or Douglas County area. The state’s Department of Corrections said that in 2004 they released 73 inmates who listed Douglas County as their home.

Frances Breyne, public information officer for the Kansas Department of Corrections, said the agency was interested in working with the Salvation Army because re-entry programs in other communities had proven successful. But Breyne said the department would insist on a high level of community involvement in the process.

“Our hope is to engage the community and address their concerns and issues before it causes anxiety and frustration,” Breyne said.

Plans not discussed

Janet Good, a resident of the adjacent East Lawrence neighborhood, said the proposal already was creating concern.

“I think we are an accepting neighborhood, but there comes a time when we have to be concerned about the safety of our neighborhood and about who will be walking through it,” Good said.

Other neighbors said they believed the program would violate promises by the Salvation Army to build a “neighborhood-friendly” facility. Forney disagreed, but conceded the Salvation Army had not specifically talked to the neighbors about the program. He said that’s because the organization began planning for the program after meetings with the neighbors had ended about four months ago.

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He also said he didn’t view the program as being radically different than housing other homeless individuals, who may also have criminal pasts. But Forney said the Salvation Army would be happy to restart the informational meetings with neighbors.

Mansur said she wasn’t sure how much additional meetings would help.

“I just wonder how much more they are holding back,” Mansur said. “None of this is helping us feel like we can trust them.”

Money not the issue

The Salvation Army would be paid $17 per day, per person to house the former inmates, which Forney said could stay for five to six months at a time while they are finding more permanent housing. But Forney said money wasn’t driving the decision.

“This is just a very needed service,” Forney said. “People who come out of prisons have no place to go. They usually only know the place that they just came out of, and that does them no good.”

Construction work hasn’t yet started on the new 34,000 square foot facility, which would be on the west side of Haskell Avenue between Lynn and Homewood streets. Forney said final plans are being reviewed by the organization’s regional headquarters. He said the public portion of a capital campaign to help raise money for the $3.5 million project would be launched in July. Forney said depending on the success of the campaign, the building could be completed by late 2006.