Rechael Morrison -a city appointed resident ambassador at Dignity Village – is optimistic about the city’s new rules – including allowing sex offenders to reside in the tent city. One of the other future plans – the possibility of a family center at Grace Marketplace located directly next to Dignity Village – which Morrison says is not a good idea .
“if you have family that is coming in to Grace Marketplace, where are all of these sex offenders going to go because we have them outside in Dignity Village,” says Morrison.
Right now there are no families allowed in Grace Marketplace or Dignity Village. City manager Fred Murry says since the city has taken over – the number of people occupying tents has gone down by a third. With a new registration system and permit requirements some residents say other options should be considered.”This housing thing is going to bloom because of the prisoners coming out of the prison for the early release program,” says Donald Shepherd, a community advocate.
Morrison says the city should focus on keeping residents who currently stay in dignity village safe. “There’s ambassadors out there that’s get threatened,” says Rechael Morrison. “We have an ambassador out there working the showers and he got beat up for something he didn’t do.”
The city recently evicted 7 residents for violence related offenses – 4 of whom are up for an appeal to return. But city officials say before discussing adding a family center and medical building, their first priority is making sure dignity village and grace marketplace welcome all who need a place to stay.
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