New Life leader says application to make Cape federal building a homeless shelter was misunderstood

The New Life Evangelistic Center on Thursday issued a nine-page response to the letter denying its application to use the Broadway federal building in Cape Girardeau as a homeless shelter.

In its response, released by New Life founder the Rev. Larry Rice, the ministry claims that its application was misunderstood and that the conclusions drawn were insufficient to deny it the building. Rice also made public the letter from the Department of Health and Human Services detailing why the application was denied.

Rice presented both documents during a noontime discussion at Joyful Praise Ministries, 1507 S. Sprigg St. The event, organized by NAACP chapter president Deborah Young, drew about three dozen people, including several who accompanied Rice from his headquarters in St. Louis.

As he spoke, Rice said he will be filing a lawsuit soon in Washington, D.C., challenging the denial. "We have not yet begun to fight," he said. City leaders "did a great job of politicizing the process. But when all is said and done, it is God we depend on."

The department denied the application, failing it on four of the five criteria used to evaluate applications for federal surplus property. Under federal law, when a federal building is declared surplus, applicants seeking to use it to serve the homeless are given priority consideration. Now that Rice has been denied, the government has begun preparing to attempt to sell it.

The Rev. Larry Rice leads a discussion Thursday morning at Joyful Praise Ministries in Cape Girardeau on how the New Life Evangelistic Center will proceed after its bid for the old federal building was rejected. (Kit Doyle)

The lawsuit will seek to block that process, Rice said.

The application failed to show how the planned services would be coordinated, failed to demonstrate a sufficient need, proposed a timeline for implementing the programs that was too slow and didn't have the financial strength to make good on its promises, the department said.

In the response, New Life argued that it was clear in the application that services would be coordinated among all of New Life's operations in an attempt to provide opportunities for homeless people found in Cape Girardeau. On the issue of need, New Life continued to argue that the area to be served extends well beyond Cape Girardeau's borders.

The implementation time, estimated at two years by the department, isn't correct, the ministry said in its response. The estimate is designed to take into account potential zoning or other red tape created by a city government that doesn't want a shelter, the response said.

And on the issue of financial strength, New Life said it has always found adequate money in the form of donations and would do so again if necessary.

During his visit, Rice also questioned the commitment of community leaders to addressing homelessness. That is another reason he will pursue legal action over the building, he said. Their solution, he said, is to "keep the mentally ill, the poor and the homeless out of sight and out of mind. Maybe the rich white folks are against me, but a lot of poor and middle-class black and white folks are with me."

The homeless will be visible, he said, when he sets up a camp for them on the July 4 weekend.

Rice is drawing support from Young, who said she sees a real need in Cape Girardeau for homeless services. She also said she has met with Mayor Jay Knudtson, who organized the opposition to Rice, and believes that a dialogue has begun that could be fruitful. "If you ask us, we will tell you what we need in Cape Girardeau."

The community reaction, as measured by comments on the Southeast Missourian website about his plan, shows that the community is hostile to helping the poor, Rice said. "There is a spiritual depravity that has grieved me as a minister."

Knudtson said Rice is wrong about the community commitment to helping the poor and homeless.

"I have sat in rooms with ministers, with Salvation Army representatives, with people that their sole mission is to provide better conditions for the homeless and less fortunate and I have seen the conflict in their eyes as this situation has arose," Knudtson said. "But one of the most dramatic takeaways from me in all of this is that these people, with their sole purpose to help the less fortunate, are resisting this particular application and this particular organization because they are offended by the way this man and his organization operates."

Knudtson also warned that Young and the NAACP are undermining the credibility of the local chapter, revived in January, by joining sides with Rice. "He is not the one she should be working with. She should be working with local officials and holding us accountable. I understand feelings of frustration from the African-American community, but let there be no mistake, any association with Rev. Rice will deal those relations a severe blow."Knudtson said he has never denied there are homeless in Cape Girardeau. Instead, he said the city can handle the problem but cannot become a magnet for homeless from throughout the region. There are plans underway to provide transitional housing opportunities, he said.

The Rev. Bob Towner, pastor of Christ Episcopal Church, 101 N. Fountain St., was invited to the NAACP luncheon but left when he saw that Rice was speaking. He said he was invited to a minister's appreciation luncheon and that that was not what was occurring.

Towner, along with other pastors in the Cape Ministerial Alliance, met with Rice last week. He said that was a productive meeting but that he was not convinced Rice was the best choice to provide help or that the federal building was the best location. Churches are almost competing with one another to come up with ideas, he said. For Towner, one of the biggest needs in the area is homelike facilities for people with drug and alcohol problems as they leave inpatient rehabilitation.

"I am grateful to Larry Rice for challenging this community to do better, but I still have grave reservations about whether he is the one who can actually do it," Towner said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO

1507 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO

101 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, MO