Ministry expected to be closed

Tuesday, April 15, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

After operating for nearly 20 years, God in Me Ministries is expected to be ordered to close its homeless shelter operation Wednesday afternoon.

That's when the Las Vegas City Council is to decide whether to legalize the shelter by changing the zoning of the property from residential to a "civic" zone that would allow the shelter. The planning commission has recommended denial.

"Without intervention from God, there is zero hope for us now," Anthony V. Mosley, the shelter owner, said.

"I didn't lobby the planning commission, and I haven't lobbied the City Council other than to send a letter (of apology) to Councilman Lawrence Weekly," in whose ward the shelter operates.

The apology comes after the city found the shelter has, for several years, run without a license, and the shelter is not zoned for the area. Still, Mosley hopes for help. "We are hoping to get a high-powered attorney who will help us, but it will have to be pro bono because we are now about $9,000 in debt," Mosley said.

On April 8, Mosley tried to rally support for his shelter during the meeting of the Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition. He showed a videotape of his agency providing food to neighbors.

He explained that when the charity receives too much in perishable food donations and runs out of room in its pantry and refrigerators, it gives away the excess food to neighbors off the back of its delivery trucks.

Mosley plans to show the tape to the City Council to demonstrate that the shelter, with no commercial markings, blends into the neighborhood and that neighbors benefit from its generosity.

The aging single-story shelter buildings are nestled among older single-story homes. But at times as many as 80 homeless men have lived at God in Me. They share small rooms within, each with two bunk beds, a closet and a color television. Each of the units has two bathrooms.

An argument between one of the facility's workers and a neighbor over a minor traffic accident resulted in the neighbor, who was not identified, calling the city to complain about the shelter. The city then discovered that there was no authorization or zoning for a shelter at the God in Me property. Since that happened in December, many of the shelter's residents have left for private homes, as the facility downsizes, preparing for the worst. Others graduated from the ministry's 90-day program.

But Mosley said he "will never sell these buildings."

"God in Me Ministries will be finished, but I will be able to provide regular residences for about 16 men," he said. "I haven't decided what I will charge for rent, but that's what I will do because I'm already zoned for it."

According to county assessor records, Mosley owns two of the buildings. God in Me Ministries owns another adjacent property. A fourth building adjacent to the two main buildings on Hassell Avenue is rented by the ministry.

God in Me Ministries was started about 1985 by "Chaplain" Joe Prange. Prange gained national recognition a few years later when Newsweek magazine named him one of the nation's unsung heroes for his work with the homeless.

Mosley was one of the many people who was helped by Prange, and when Prange died in February 2000, Mosley took over Prange's organization after several local pastors turned down the offer to run it.

Prange, however, had failed to tell Mosley that the Las Vegas City Council, in 1994, had denied a zoning change that would have legalized the shelter, Mosley said. After the denial, Prange had just continued to operate the shelter with the improper zoning and without a business license, which also went under the city's radar for nearly a decade.

"If I had known about it, I would have done everything to go about getting the zoning and the license," said Mosley. "Now we are in a position where the city and City Council is embarrassed. That's not going to help us get the zoning and the license." Sharon Segerblom, the city's director of Neighborhood Services, says regardless of how long the shelter has operated and regardless of whatever admirable work it may have done, the issue now is zoning law and what is best for the entire neighborhood.

"Our rule of thumb is to see how people feel about something, and this (homeless shelter) has significant impact on the neighborhood and the quality of life for the residents," she said.

Linda Lera-Randle El, an advocate for the homeless and operator of the Straight From the Streets homeless outreach program, says the issue should not be zoning or licensing, it should be what is best for the men who might be displaced by a shutdown of the facility, one of whom is a client of hers.

"First thing with this issue, all the name-calling should stop and both sides should work together to transition these people if they no longer can stay at that shelter," she said.

Mosley said "we will find proper shelter for all of these men" should he lose because, he says, he cares about the community and is concerned about its image and its future.

Some homeless advocates argue that the God in Me shelter is not out of character with this particular neighborhood.

"They are a good Christian presence in a neighborhood that is high in crime and drugs," said Brother Dave Buer, a Franciscan monk who lives six blocks from the shelter. "This neighborhood benefits tremendously from God in Me being there."

Buer said he supports the rezoning request but said if the city council votes against the request, it should give the shelter time and the resources to "help them find an acceptable location."

Segerblom said that if the council refuses the zoning change "certainly we will work individually with these people to find shelter if that's what they want. That should not be as difficult as it may seem because God in Me is not a free shelter."

Mosley acknowledged that his organization does charge its clients rent, but said that's only after they have become gainfully employed and can afford to "donate" the money to help keep the place going.

In addition to shelter, the facility provides three meals a day, obtaining its food supplies from the Community Food Bank, Smart & Final and Harvest Foods. Its chef is a homeless man who used to be a chef at a Strip resort. He and another cook each are paid $35 a week and get free rent.

The facility also pays a manager $70 a week, a delivery driver $70 a week, a security director $35 a week and a security guard $35 a week. Each man also gets a bed rent free.

Following the tradition started by Prange, the ministry also does not file for grants and does not seek federal taxpayer funds.

Mosley also said that a number of his clients have come to God in Me after having bad experiences at other larger shelters. He said a number of them expressed concerns that they did not receive the individual attention and assistance that they get from a smaller organization like God in Me.

The homeless community is not totally in support of the shelter, especially at a site adjacent to homes.

In the 1980s, no one was more visible in the local homeless advocacy business than John "3:16" Cook. And no one was more of a scourge of City Hall than the flamboyant minister who also was forced to eventually get a license to operate his Pride Village shelter on Bonanza Road.

Cook says he believes God in Me was able to operate without a license for so long, "because unlike me, who could never be low profile, they kept a real low profile. They kept quiet."

Cook says God in Me does good work, but even he agrees with critics it does not belong there.

"The homeless to me were my children, but the problem was because so many were mentally ill, they were like children," said Cook, who today ministers to 60 working poor people at a dilapidated mobile home park at Lamb Boulevard and Lake Mead Boulevard. He says as poor as they are, those residents would oppose a homeless shelter next door.

"Homeless shelters are just not right for neighborhoods with children, for gosh sakes," he said.

Mosley said more than 20 social services are provided at his shelter.

Mosley said none of his residents have caused any trouble.

"In 14 years here, none of our people have ever been charged with a crime against the neighbors' homes," he said.

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