Prison ministry on hold in Chase Co.
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Originally published 03:18 p.m., September 24, 2007
Updated 03:18 p.m., September 24, 2007
Hope House ministry has been put on hold, for the time being.
The temporary home for troubled men was being planned on acreage near the Chase-Lyon County line. When residents of the Toledo Township area learned of the proposal, opposition to Hope House flamed, with petitions circulating to prevent the home from opening.
“I don’t know any other way to stop the wildfire other than putting a hold on everything,” said Janna Hancock, director of the ministry.
She and her husband, Paul, own the property on which the home was to be located. The house apparently was to have been sold to Christian Mission Ministries, a nonprofit corporation created in May 2007, with Janna Hancock listed as the contact. Hancock said that CMM’s board of directors voted to put the project on hold “until the fire dies down and until everyone just catches their breath.”
Hancock said that she hoped to serve men in the immediate community who were battling substance abuse, illiteracy, employment issues, drugs, pornography and other issues. Hancock said she has been involved in prison ministry for about 30 years.
“We weren’t going to go out looking for people 200 miles away. ...It was just basically a place for men where they could go to for no more than 90 days to allow their home, their children, their family time away from them,” Hancock said. “Some of these men may be living next to them, their neighbors. They may be renting a house in Strong City. They may be renting in Cottonwood Falls. I understand their fears.”
No one on parole and no sex offenders would be allowed at Hope House, she said.
“And I think that was the biggest issue,” Hancock said. “People ran with that.”
Hancock said that the ministry was for support and outreach, taking a proactive approach to “intervene before they get to the point where they have a criminal record.”
Hancock said she was saddened by the way that information about the ministry was released. She had made informational brochures with “rough drafts of goals and dreams and visions.” The Hancocks invited in close friends to tell them about the project and to seek financial support.
“One of those inner circle people turned that loose and people just went nuts,” Hancock said. “They didn’t have all the information and we couldn’t work fast enough to put together a complete packet to give to people.”
In a letter to the editor in The Gazette, Candy Johnson of Toledo said that she and other residents learned of the plans accidentally.
“The future residents of Hope House are ‘former inmates, homeless, on the verge of being homeless or recovering addicts,’” Johnson wrote.
She said she lives less than 300 feet from the property and was concerned for safety and property values in the neighborhood.
“Many of us are outraged by the secrecy and the lack of communications from the sellers,” Johnson said. “They never considered or took into account our concerns. ... We have several older citizens in this community that are scared.”
Laura Dodge and Carol Buffington, who also live in the neighborhood, carried petitions in Chase and Lyon County in an effort to recruit help from the Chase County Commission.
The petition asked the commission “to file a restraining order to postpone the operation of the Hope House until it can be investigated by the Chase County Commissioners and Chase County Sheriff to make sure all county and state mandates have been met and also to answer the questions of the community regarding the security of both the ‘resident house’ and the community.
“We are also requesting that the Chase County Commissioners consider drafting an ordinance, for future situations, addressing the safety and security issues we now have and also establish criteria for staff certifications, as requested by the State of Kansas for similar facilities.”
The petitions were carried in both Lyon and Chase counties because Toledo also sits near the Lyon County line. More than 100 people in Lyon County signed the petition, and more than 150 signed in Chase County, Buffington said. The effort to collect signatures was halted when the women heard that plans for Hope House had been scrapped.
The petitions, however, were presented to the Chase County Commission in an attempt to set guidelines for future developments in the county.
“If it does come back on us again, then they could have some kind of regulations in place,” Buffington said. “We were being told that since it was religious-based, it didn’t have to be licensed — no inspections, no kind of impound security.”
She said that eight families live along the mile-long stretch of road that includes the Hope House property.
“There’s probably 20 to 30 minutes from a police department,” she said. “We would not get help if we needed help (for) 20 to 30 minutes after we called them. That just really had us more alarmed than anything. It’s just our security...
“Yes, some of them are rehabilitated, but I don’t want to find out whether they are or not, living across the street from me.”
Buffington said that residents also were concerned about the condition of the house that initially was to have taken in its first resident about Sept. 1.
“It has been empty for years, and now they’re wanting to sell it and I don’t blame them,” Buffington said. “They used it for storage.”
Chase County Attorney Bill North said that he could not give legal advice on different aspects of the issues; however, the county does not have any zoning ordinances.
“So, there are technically no land-use controls,” North said.
Chase County Commission Chairman Tim Peterson said that the petition was presented at the commission meeting last week, and has been taken under consideration.
“At this time, we haven’t decided on anything,” Peterson said. “... We’ll take our time and look at it. I don’t know what our plans will be. ... I don’t know what we can do for sure, if we wanted to.”
In the interim, Hancock said, she has talked individually with about a dozen residents in the area and believes that she is gaining support and understanding of her mission.
“Are they going to step forward and come to the paper and tell you that?” Hancock asked. “Probably not.”
She said that during her prison ministries in “some of the most horrendous prisons” in the country, she always asks one question: If the inmate had one dream, what would it be?
“Ninety percent of the time I hear, ‘Do something on the outside so you don’t get any more people in here,’” Hancock said. “After 30 years of hearing that ... I thought it was time to do some proactive approach in our community.”
Hancock said that she has received threatening calls, fences have been broken, and the family’s cattle have been let out and found on the highway.
“I’ve had people threaten to kidnap my animals and do all sorts of terrible things to them,” she said. “It’s like this has got to stop. I love these people who are being so vile to me, and that’s the funny part of it.”
Comments
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Posted by jwnks (anonymous) on September 25, 2007 at 10:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How long will it take for medical personnel to pull my near lifeless body out of the mangled wreckage of my vehicle after I hit one of those cows on the highway? Will the person responsible for letting the cow loose be charged and sentenced to prison for my death? Is that person one bit better than the people Mrs. Hancock is trying to help? No! This is a classic example of lynch mob mentality. Ignorance breeds fear and hatred! God bless you Mrs. Hancock. I applaud your efforts. I will pray for the people causing you problems. I will pray that none of their loved ones or neighbors hits one of those cows.
Posted by Weltha (anonymous) on September 26, 2007 at 10:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said jw.
"How long will it take for medical personnel to pull my near lifeless body out of the mangled wreckage of my vehicle after I hit one of those cows on the highway? Will the person responsible for letting the cow loose be charged and sentenced to prison for my death? Is that person one bit better than the people Mrs. Hancock is trying to help? No! This is a classic example of lynch mob mentality. Ignorance breeds fear and hatred! "
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