Getting Involved

Getting Involved

The problem is the location. Fenwick St is the interior of our neighborhood. If Mercy Ministry were located on a main street such as Broad or Walton Way, the people who go to it would not be likely to wander around our neighborhood. This loitering, littering and unseemly behavior rangers from petty theft, public drunkenness to public urination. Ask the management of the Family Dollar store on Walton Way or the Kroger on 15th Street about the customers who come in from Mercy Ministries ? The loitering and littering is the most disturbing to me. I get so tired of picking up beer cans in front of my house.

When the homeless leave Fenwick and Crawford they make a trail of trash to the Kroger on 15th street. The trash problem is really bad behind Walton Way wines and spirits on Tuttle St too.

I have fine rental properties in this area and people who have been potential renters have been scared away by the conditions in our neighborhood. Conditions which have been recently created. The fall out from Mercy Ministries and dope dealers top my list. But both are interconnected. This is

quiet simple. Many of the "homeless" men who come through our neighborhood because of Mercy Ministry have drug and alcohol problems. They are a ready market for drug dealers to take advantage of. Mercy Ministry should not be in ANY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD. NOR IS IT FAIR TO EXPECT THE RICHMOND COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT TO EXTEND THE NEEDED EFFORTS TO POLIECE OUR AREA. THE SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT IS MAXED OUT AND THEY DO A WONDERFUL JOB. MERCY MINISTRY SHOULD NOT BE AN ADDITIONAL STRESS TO THE SHERIFFS DEPARTMETNT. IT MAKES PERFECT LOGIC TO HOUSE A PLACE SUCH AS MERCY MINISTRY IN A BUSINESS OR PROFESSIONALLY ZONED SETTING. TAX PAYERS WOULD NOT WANT TO HANDEL THE BILL IF 'HOMELESS' PEOPLE AND PROSTITUTES WERE JAILED BECAUSE OF THEIR EXTENSIVE HEALTH ISSUES

Below are the names and the email addresses of the Board of directors who choose to support having Mercy Ministries in our residential neighborhood.

Frankie Ring EMAIL: jimandfrankie@worldnet.att.net
Laurie Barlett EMAIL: l.barlett@comcast.net
Rev. Roosevelt Walden EMAIL: velt59@aol.com
Dr. Dennis Jones EMAIL: ibisdune@aol.com
Ian Crawford EMAIL: icrawford@bellsouth.net
John Byrum EMAIL: jwbyrun@bellsouth.net
Dr. John Woodward EMAIL: happy373@toast.net
G. Michael (Mike) Hall, CPA EMAIL: gmh@hallassociatescpa.com

A local homeless center is under fire after neighbors complained that the center is attracting a lot of problems to their neighborhood. WJBF-TV News Channel 6's Fraendy Clervaud spoke to some Harrisburg neighborhood residents, who are speaking out about the center.

By Fraendy Clervaud

E-mail

Augusta, GA -- It's a place where folks go to find rest and get help.

Fran Oliver, Executive Director, Mercy Ministries: "It gives them a chance to be off the streets, be where it's warm and cool."

Mercy Ministries has been in the Harrisburg community for about two years, now. Some neighbors say, helping the homeless is becoming more of a problem.

Butch Palmer, Augusta, GA: "The loitering and littering that goes on in the neighborhood."

Butch Palmer says, after some of the homeless get help, many of them stay around the neighborhood, showing no mercy for people's belongings. He says they've broken into cars and homes.

Palmer: "I say it is the most disruptive thing that's ever happened to our neighborhood."

Workers at the ministry say community problems have always been there.

Oliver: "There's already a lot of people living in the community that we really cannot take responsibility for them, but we are here to help the ones who need our help."

Palmer is not convinced. He says able-bodied men are freeloading.

Palmer: "When you go to the drug store, or Family Dollar, or Kroger, you're constantly being hit on for money, and it's very aggravating to have people panhandling."

Oliver says, many of the homeless who come by are disabled, and don't have jobs. But, those who can work, find it.

Oliver: "People that are wanting to change, and are able to work, we help them find assistance, we provide transporation to their jobs."

Palmer even started a property association to help stop the alleged problems.

Palmer: "Hong Kong, which stands for Harrisburg Organization Networking for Genterfication to Keep Our Neighbor from becoming a Ghetto."

Workers at Mercy Ministries say helping is what they do best, and that they should not be blamed from problems in the Harrisburg community.

Oliver: "You're gonna have incidents in any community. We have our own rules that we try to be vigilant on that they are obeyed."

Mercy Ministries is open seven days a week and serves as a day shelter for the homeless.

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We have seen an alarming number of renters who own dogs and cats who do not take care of them. They do not give them flea treatments nor do they spade neuter them. They tie their dogs to short chains in their yards without shelter. Many of them do not get tags for their dogs and they let them roam. These are the kinds of people who nobody wants in their neighborhoods. I have observed that many times these people have an inordinate number of people coming and going and oftentimes they have many empty beer containers bulging out of their trash cans. Landlords would

immediately improve our neighborhood by getting rid of both of them.

Warning signs which may indicate that Thugs may be among us. (note: not all people who drive these vehicles are or wear hoods are "Thugs" nor are all folks who mistreat dogs, but time has shown that the information conveyed below is a reason to take notice. (This information is especially useful to landlords.)
older Chevy impala (or similar type of auto) that has been modified to ride low to the ground, expensive paint, loud speakers (base), this type of automobile or similar has been the kind of cars that lower class young men drive who have a propensity to commit crimes, speed deal drugs and cause societal problems. They are likely to not take advantage of the abundant educational opportunities, which great leaders such as the Rev Martin Luther King worked to make possible.

Baggy paints worn below the young mans' waist (often times exposing the crack of their butts)which actually gives the silhouettes of a tight skirt. Gouty gold chains worn around the neck may be present that would rival that of the worst dressed Sara Coventry representative of a bygone era.

Hooded jackets, knitted hats and caps which abscure them and evoke an air of anonymity.

Dark glasses worn indoors.

Slang utterances such as "cuz", "home boy", "my man" , "what it is", "yo", "whaszup", may indicate that the user is in an undesirable social circle. Young people who were born in the USA but speak english poorly should be watched very carefully. Educational opportunities are abundent. There is no excues for american born children not to be well spoken.

Booming speakers in automobiles.

A dog or dogs tied (usually with short rope or chain) in the yard many times without shelter. The Pit Bull is popular among "Thugs".

These people view pets differently than civilized folks. They do not cherish their pets. They view dogs primarily as an alarm system. Children and young women in this segment of the population often times have a phobia of Dogs and Cats.

Many times these people burn insense in their houses to mask the odor of pot and crack.

People, like neighborhoods, need boundaries.

Without boundaries there would be no civilization.

Last Easter members of our community came together and talked and prayed with Sheriff Strength concerning the state of our well-beloved Harrisburg hamlet. We discovered that most of the time when renters deal drugs, do illegal activity or disruptive behavior, the home owner does not know.
Each month a member of H.O.N.G.K.O.N.G. requests a crime analysis of our nieghborhood from the Richmond County Sheriffs department. We send a copy of any drug arrests or disruptive behavior to the homeowner. This alerts the responsible land lord.

A mind is indeed a terrible thing to waste!

Waste not, want not.

H.O.N.G.K.O.N.G. stands for Harrisburg Orgnization Networking for Gentrification to Keep Our Neighborhood from becoming a Ghetto