COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) -
Elfriede Harrleson has lived in the
Crystal Valley area of Columbus off Macon Road for the past 10 years.
On Thursday night, she and several
other outraged members had a common goal: stop the building of a halfway home
ministry for men at Crystal Valley Baptist Church.
"I'm very concerned about the
children, more than my home, because in the summertime the children are all
around," Harrleson said.
Harrleson and about 50 others stood
in opposition of this male transitional center that was aimed at helping
prisoners get back on their feet. Within about 15 minutes of heated debate, Neil
Richardson, the local minister spearheading the project, withdrew his proposal
for the center.
"If our neighbors do not want
us to do this and to the point where there is emotions that are arising, and we
are going to do what God would have us do… and that's withdraw the proposal and
leave in a loving way," Richardson said.
Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson and
several council members came out to the meeting to hear concerns on both
spectrums of the issue. Overall, many say that this halfway home or transition
center would be a big problem for the community.
"Why do we need inmates in our
neighborhood or close to our neighborhood they need to build this house in
pasture somewhere?" asked a resident.
Crystal Valley Baptist Church is
less than a mile from Waddell Elementary School and just across the street from
a daycare.
Richardson says their goal was to
better these men by ministering. Though this fight may be over, he isn't giving
up.
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