DALLAS (ABP) — As the heads of two Christian organizations, Jake Walters and Larry James both want to do good. But the ways they've decided to follow Jesus' command to love others are mutually exclusive — at least for the moment.
For Walters, the headmaster of Dallas' First Baptist Academy, the safety of children in his care must preempt goodwill toward the homeless. And so he is opposing a new housing project 200 feet from his school that will house many former homeless people.
For James, executive director of Central Dallas Ministries, which is proposing the housing project, providing housing for homeless and low-income people is one of the most effective ways Christians can show God's love.
At the center of the dispute is a building at 511 N. Akard Street that previously housed the offices of the Southern Baptist Annuity Board and the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
Central Dallas Ministries wants to build a 209-unit housing project in the 15-story building. Fifty of the apartments would go to formerly homeless people, while the rest would be used for low-income tenants.
Of the six people who addressed the issue to a Dallas City Council special session March 28, Walters was the only opponent to speak. The council approved the project 13-1 — even after Walters wrote parents of First Baptist Academy's students urging them to contact city council members to sway their opinion.
The council vote doesn't automatically mean the project will begin, but it allows Central Dallas Ministries to seek federal funding through special tax credits.
The plan requested $1.75 million for the renovation, which will also create ground-floor retail space and two floors of offices for Central Dallas Ministries. It also requested $12 million in low-income tax credits from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
Walters and other leaders from First Baptist Academy have voiced concern over several factors — the perceived lack of planning and the potential safety hazard for the small children who attend the K-12 school.
While Walters and others did not name specific safety concerns, some fear an increased presence of homeless people leads to higher instances of crime. In his letter, Walters added the “proposed time frame for consideration of this proposal is inadequate to conduct proper due diligence in this area [of safety].”
“I am very upset about this. It's driving my parents absolutely crazy,” Walters told Associated Baptist Press. “Had they done any planning, they would never have put [the school and the apartments] together.”
Walters said his school has led a “vibrant” ministry in the Dallas urban area for more than 34 years, and he firmly believes a “dormitory”-style complex doesn't complement the school environment created by the academy. Plus, he said, Central Dallas Ministries failed to consult or even notify the school about the plans. He found out about the development in an e-mail from a parent.
“I didn't believe it at first,” Walters said. “This is just a bad idea.”
Workers at Central Dallas Ministries have a different opinion.
“We will have 24-hour security with a crime watch on every floor,” James told the Baptist Standard of Texas. “Residents will be subject to extensive criminal background checks, and no child predators or other violent offenders will be allowed.”
The editorial board of the Dallas Morning News agreed the project is a good idea, writing in an editorial: “Undoubtedly, many other problems contribute to their plight, chiefly mental illness and addictions. But No. 1, as far as solving our problem with the homeless, is creating places where they can live until and while those other issues are addressed. That's why Central Dallas Ministries' plan to turn a 10-years-vacant office tower into affordable units for homeless and low-income people is potentially very good for downtown Dallas.”
James told the Dallas Morning News he had originally planned to devote 100 units to homeless people. Facing pressure of safety concerns from “key players” like Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, however, he reduced the number by half.
But that change and security assurances do little to ease Walters' mind. For parents of First Baptist Academy students, “perception of safety is everything,” and he doesn't see how anything short of “making it like a prison and getting the police to guard it” would ease that concern.
Walters also said the school would take drastic measures to make parents feel safe, even if it came to moving.
“We will do whatever we can to protect the rights and safety of our children,” he said. “We have to respond to responsibly meet the safety and security requirements of our clientele.”
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