A couple in Waynesboro wants residents of the Tree Streets to join them to “strongly voice” concerns about the presence of unhoused individuals at St. John’s Episcopal Church.
A letter from Wayne Avenue homeowners Michael Jacobs and Michelle Weeks was distributed in the mailboxes of residents on Friday, raising issues with safety, the neighborhood’s charm, and of course, property values.
The church met with approximately a dozen people recently to talk about what the residents characterized as “the homeless problem,” according to the Rev. Tom DuMontier.
“The conversation was difficult,” DuMontier said in a newsletter distributed to church members. “The conversation was real.”
Weeks and Jacobs said neighbors met with the pastor to discuss the “church’s permissive attitude towards homeless persons.”
The couple also shared in the letter that the church told them about plans to expand and become a community outreach center for unhoused members of the community, and more specifically, use the church as a work re-education center.
Waynesboro does not currently have a day shelter for the unhoused. It also does not have a permanent shelter for homeless individuals year-round.
Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry, or WARM, offers a cold-weather shelter that runs from Thanksgiving to Easter. The thermal shelter rotates between churches and provides a warm meal each night in addition to respite during the cold winter season. St. John’s Episcopal already serves as an overflow shelter for WARM when the need extends beyond the host church on any given night.
“As we and neighbors tried to explain, his plan and accommodating attitude towards homeless people on church property puts our families and property at risk,” Weeks and Jacobs write in the letter. “As word spreads that St. John’s Episcopal Church is a permissive space for the homeless population, more homeless persons will congregate at St. John’s Episcopal Church and spill into the surrounding neighborhood. Our neighborhood.”
A second meeting with community members and church leaders is planned for Tuesday night, Oct. 7, at 5:30 p.m. in the church fellowship hall.
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The church acknowledged its “small acts of hospitality to the unhoused” have caused a stir with some neighbors who view the outreach as “being in opposition to the safety of the housed.”
The letter that circulated to homeowners in the Tree Streets said the church has allowed a homeless woman and her male companion to occupy the church’s empty lot on Chestnut Avenue. The couple also raised issue with a man who was allegedly allowed to sleep in the bushes in front of the church.
Weeks and Jacobs, through their words, seem to epitomize the mindset of the current president on homeless individuals on the streets of DC who have distracted from his otherwise idyllic ride in a limo to his 800-acre private golf course.
The president recently called in the National Guard, who took part in an effort to bulldoze tents and belongings of homeless individuals on the sidewalks, and gave those left with nothing three alternatives: relocate to an addiction or mental health treatment facility, a homeless shelter or go to jail.
The couple bolstered their safety accusations by writing that “a large percentage of homeless persons suffer from mental illness and drug addiction” and concluding that both contribute to “increased crime rates.”
‘Refusing to help homeless people does not make them disappear’
Not everyone from Waynesboro shares such a nefarious mindset about unhoused individuals in the city.
Dana Jones said the letter reflects “fear and prejudice rather than compassion or understanding.
“I was especially disheartened to see a local professional, someone who serves the same community, spread such misleading and stigmatizing information. Refusing to help homeless people does not make them disappear; it only deepens their suffering and pushes the problem further into the shadows.”
Weeks is a veterinarian at Animal Hospital of Waynesboro.
Jones said she hopes the church is not persuaded to abandon this important work and appreciates the work it is doing to provide hope, dignity and tangible support to individuals often ignored.
“Providing a community outreach center is part of the solution – not the problem.”
“Your decision to open your doors and extend compassion to people in need reflects genuine moral courage,” Jones said. “It’s an act of leadership that transcends religion and politics.”
The church’s current outreach includes supporting WARM, providing free meals to the community and taking part in the Crop Hunger Walk.
“We continue to discern at St. John’s how we love our neighbors, housed and unhoused,” DuMontier wrote. “We currently offer hospitality to the unhoused who visit our church and grounds.”
ICYMI
- Waynesboro not a big city like Washington, but homelessness issues still exist
- No safety net: Families desperate, experiencing homelessness in Waynesboro
- Waynesboro had a day shelter for the homeless; it was shut down due to zoning
- Local ministry on the ground helping Waynesboro’s homeless survive, thrive
- Homeless population packing up, moving out of Tent City in Waynesboro
- Evicted: Waynesboro’s homeless population served trespassing orders for Tent City
- Waynesboro’s HERO: Nonprofit aims to help prevent utility cutoffs, evictions
- ‘Homeless and hated’: LIFEworks Project offers hand, dignity to unsheltered population
- Beyond the bikes: Man on a mission to help unsheltered community
“Earlier this week was the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux. I continue to be moved by her words,” DuMontier wrote in the newsletter distributed primarily to church members.
True charity consists in bearing with all the defects of our neighbor, in not being surprised at their failings, and in being edified by their least virtues; charity must not remain shut up in the depths of the heart, for no one lights a candle and puts it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. It seems to me that this candle represents the charity which ought to enlighten and make joyful, not only those who are dearest to me, but all who are in the house.
The church Facebook page also has a cover image that seems to back up its mission to serve all people, including the unhoused. The words are credited to “The Baptismal Covenant, Book of Common Prayer,” page 305.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? We will, with God’s help.
St. John’s Episcopal Church is located at 473 S. Wayne Ave. in Waynesboro.
From the author: The writer of this article used to live next door to Weeks and Jacobs on Wayne Avenue. It’s worth noting that Jacobs stopped talking to our family after we posted a rainbow flag outside our home to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. This suggests to me a pattern, perhaps, of a lack of empathy toward marginalized populations.
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Crystal Graham
