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Residents of a Vancouver neighborhood are protesting a church’s decision to allow half a dozen homeless people to park and sleep overnight in its parking lot, reports local station KATU.
Laurelwood Baptist Church in Vancouver, Wash., recently announced that it would be opening up its parking lot as a safe space for homeless families who sleep in their cars.
The church's senior pastor Mike Wilde sent a letter to residents explaining the decision:
Neighbors gathered in protest on Sunday, voicing their concerns about issues related to the homeless, including crime.
"I'm a father and I must protect my family and when something comes in that might endanger my family's welfare I have a concern," said resident Tyrone McCullum.
“Church people are gonna leave at night, and whoever is in this parking lot is potentially ... vandalizing possibly in our neighborhood and no one's monitoring it," said another resident Kelly Casper.
The church’s pastor Mike Wilde said that the church would be vetting the homeless before allowing them to stay and that “every person would be told to follow a Code of Conduct, be drug free and follow [a] safety guideline,” reports KATU.
“These people are met with, they’re talked to, there’s ground rules that are accepted, and they go through this vetting process,” said Wilde.
"We're hoping that by our efforts we can help these people who are currently living in a car with their family," he said.
Participants in the SafePark program would be able to park at the church parking lot from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Homeless safe parking programs are becoming a new trend.
San Diego just recently opened three parking lots for homeless people to park and sleep in at night.
The city has given a nonprofit Dreams for Change parking lots which the city owns so they could set up their parking programs and help address the growing problem.
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