Broadway Businesses Urge Relocation of Lubbock, Texas, Homeless Outreach Center

Business owners on Broadway Avenue in Lubbock have raised concerns about the location of a homeless outreach center operated as part of Open Door, a church in the South Overton neighborhood just south of Broadway. Attorney Travis Ware, whose office is on Broadway, said he is worried about the safety and welfare of businesses along the avenue.

Ware described regular litter and trash in front of his building and said the presence of Open Door is diminishing the value of their properties. He also said residents who live behind the businesses have found people sleeping in their yards. These are Ware’s statements, and the source does not include independent verification of them.

Chad Wheeler, CEO of Open Door, responded that blaming his organization would be like blaming a hospital for sick people being in the community. “We’re not here because we’ve created the problem,” Wheeler said, “we’re here because we’re solving the problem.”

Ware said the solution is to move the facility outside of town, but Wheeler said that option is not on the table. “In our view, segregating a class of people to a different part of town or outside of town, it’s historically been a very bad thing and that’s not, in our view, the solution,” Wheeler said.

A neighbor identified only as Egan said he had noticed people experiencing homelessness in the area. Egan also said that as groups like Open Door and some churches have helped people find places to live, the neighborhood has become safer and that he has noticed a decrease in homelessness. Egan argued that moving Open Door away would reduce access for people who need its services, a concern tied to the ministry’s care for neighbors who have no place to go (Matthew 25:35).

The Congress of Neighborhood Associations and the Historic Overton Neighborhood will discuss Open Door at a meeting tomorrow. The meeting will be held at 2122 18th Street at 7:00 p.m.

Source: Read the original report