Amen Center seeks to provide transitional services for those leaving prison

The operators of a Cape Girardeau County, faith-based homeless shelter want to expand their services to provide a transitional facility for parolees and others released from Missouri prisons.

The Missouri Department of Corrections offers compensation to organizations providing �restoration facilities,� according to the Amen Center in Delta, which hopes to enter into a contract with the agency. Cape Girardeau city officials have voiced support for the proposal as have a number of other governmental, mental health and faith-based organizations.

The city council recently approved a resolution of support despite objections raised by St. James AME Church pastor Renita Green.

Green said the Amen Center, run by Danny and Shirley Hollowell, does not accept people who are gay or don�t �fit their faith view.�

If the city is going to give vocal support to such a project, �it needs to be inclusive,� she said. Green added she personally has witnessed the Amen Center refuse to take in some individuals.

�I am not saying they are inherently bad; I am saying there are ways they can improve,� Green said of the Amen Center.

But Danny Hollowell said the shelter he operates with his wife in a former Delta elementary school does allow individuals who are gay to live at the center, although same-sex partners cannot stay together. He added that up to 50 of the 5,000 individuals who have stayed at the center were gay individuals.

Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard voiced support for the Amen Center.

�We want to support them in what they do,� he said. �I applaud the group for doing this.�

Mayor Bob Fox said, �There are a lot of people in crisis who need help.�

While the council is endorsing the Amen Center proposal, no city tax dollars will be spent on it, Fox said.

The shelter is in its seventh year of operation and can house up to 100 people at one time, Hollowell said.

Over the years, an estimated 5,000 people have been helped by the Amen Center, Hollowell said. Some 346 individuals have been �saved and baptized� in the former school, he added.

Those he has helped are not all local.

�We get a lot of people out of St. Louis,� he said.

Hollowell said the Amen Center seeks to help homeless people get back on their feet and obtain jobs. He added the facility has strict rules.

�They have to get up at 6 o�clock every morning,� he said, adding they are required to look for employment. �You have to be looking to better yourself,� he said when contacted after the council meeting.

Over the past six years, the Amen Center has received more than 1,000 requests to house people being released from prison, Hollowell said. But the Amen Center has had to turn down these requests because of state requirements for �processing� such individuals, according to information presented to Cape Girardeau city officials.

Many people, who are just getting out of prison, need a place to stay as they seek to transition back into society, Hollowell said.

He said he would not take in those charged with violent crimes or sex offenses because they could pose a safety risk.

According to information presented to Cape Girardeau city officials, the state program provides about $25,000 per year per occupant. A facility that houses 100 occupants could receive $2.5 million annually in compensation.

In order to receive such payments from the state, the facility would be required to provide not only food and shelter, but medical access and employment assistance, according to the written proposal. This would �most likely require additional personnel,� the plan said.

Danny Hollowell said he is looking at two alternatives. One approach would be to construct a new facility adjacent to the current shelter. It would be operated as an independent organization, according to the written plan submitted to city staff.

�This has the advantage of independent operation but provides access to the adjacent Amen Center facilities,� the plan states. It would allow those enrolled in the restoration program the option of participating in �Christian teaching� at the center, according to the proposal.

The second approach would be to run the restoration program as part of the faith-based Amen Center, Hollowell said.

According to the plan, �a large influx of cash would be required to properly set up� such a facility.

Financing might be available from a bank, but donations would be preferred, the plan states. Hollowell said the Amen Center currently operates on donations.

Hollowell said he is committed to expanding services regardless of how it is set up.

�I am going to go through with it either way,� he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Amen Center, Delta, Mo.