Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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“We’ve got to get everybody together,” said Melissa Lawrence, a Shepherd’s Inn Advisory Board member. “Do we have a homeless problem [in Thomasville]? Yes. Could it get big? It possibly could. Let’s fix the situation before it gets out of control.”
Huey Turner, pastor of the Church of Tomorrow, did most of the speaking at the banquet, in which the host restaurant donated the food.
“It’s the most fulfilling thing that we’ve ever done,” Turner told the audience of a little over 300.
The Church of Tomorrow purchased a vacant church building on Hinkle Street, which is now the Shepherd’s Inn. Associate Minister Billy Parham serves as coordinator of the Shepherd’s Inn, where only men are allowed to stay. Women and children stay at what Turner calls the Big Church.
“We now have nine men in our men’s shelter,” Turner told the audience during the Tuesday night meeting. “There are no alcoholics and no drug addicts in my shelter.”
Turner also pointed out that convicted sex offenders were not allowed to stay at the Shepherd’s Inn.
“When these folks come in, they go through a detailed background check,” Turner said. “If we don’t know anything about them, they don’t get in.”
The pastor alluded to concerns of nearby residents on Hinkle and other streets in the area.
“We’re not going to let convicted felons move down the street from them,” Turner said of Hinkle Street residents. “Lights go out at 11 [p.m.] and Billy and I both know if anyone leaves the building during the night. It’s probably most secure place around other than the Davidson County Jail.”
A slide presentation showed settings along Sunrise Drive, Lake Avenue, National Highway and other places that showed evidence of homeless people sleeping there at night. It also showed the mission, both inside and outside.
“There is no greater mission than assisting a fellow human being and helping these people meet their most basic needs,” said Advisory Board Member June McDowell-Davis. “To make the Shepherd’s Inn a useful tool to combat homelessness in the community, we need dollars.”
People who wish to send a donation can mail it to the Shepherd’s Inn at P.O. Box 261, Thomasville 27360.
Turner reiterated that concerned neighbors of the shelter can call him at 240-4006.
“I’ll be glad to take the folks through there,” Turner said of the Shepherd’s Inn. “I’ll answer any questions and let them see the people we are helping.”
Mayor Joe Bennett, along with several city council members was in attendance.
“I was overwhelmed with the response of the attendants,” Bennett, said. “The people showed concern for the situation that exists here in Thomasville. The facility is up and running, but it needs support from folks all over the city.”
City Councilman George Burton pointed out that he had been advocating the need for such a place in Thomasville for over two years.
“A homeless shelter is a very important need here in Thomasville and I’m very glad to be supporting it,” Burton said. “I asked my fellow council members to come up with ideas to get one started at our retreat in 2005.”
Terri Nelson, executive director of Fairgrove Family Resource Center, has also been concerned that such a shelter needed to be established in Thomasville.
“The Shepherd’s Inn is definitely a needed home for people here in Thomasville,” Nelson said. “Fairgrove Family Resource Center will do what it can to support it.”
Turner asked for respect to the people who stayed at the shelter, as he said “Homeless does not have to mean hopeless.”
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 230, or at reid@tvilletimes.com.