Gazette: GBIA Leads Charge Against Emmaus Center Location

The Maryland Gazette reported Saturday that the Glen Burnie Improvement Association (GBIA) sent a letter to County Executive John R. Leopold in June asking the county to hold a public meeting before the organization was granted permits to occupy the Emmaus Center.

The faith-based homeless center recently relocated to the Steffey buliding on Crain Highway from a location on Central Avenue, according to the Gazette. The center provides food, clothes and mental health and substance abuse counseling for the homeless as well as holds morning prayer and Sunday worship.

Construction on the new location recently came to a halt after complaints from members of GBIA caused county inspectors to order activities held inside the building to cease. Permits for the facility currently are pending, the Gazette reported.

In a letter from the Emmaus Center dated July 28 and shared with Patch, the Revs. Ed Jansen and Trish Gaffney wrote about the desire to work with GBIA toward the similar goals of wanting the homeless to have a place to go other than the streets of Glen Burnie.

"Given that we share the Glen Burnie community ideals and that Emmaus Center receives no county or federal funding, we have been truly astonished by the mounting effort by the GBIA and area politicians to obstruct our move into this space," Jansen and Gaffney wrote.

Once the article was published, GBIA member Sylvia Mentecki sent a letter Sunday night to Patch and the Maryland Gazette.

"What our concern is, is that [Emmaus Center] is also offering services for drug addicted people. While we agree these people have a right to treatment the place for that treatment should not be in an area where children are walking to and from school or where the elderly or any other age bracket are cashing their checks," Mentecki wrote. "The rate of recidivism for drug users is so high that you can not honestly say that this does not pose a security risk."

Mentecki also argued that construction began on the property without proper permitting.

"While we wholeheartedly believe in his cause and his efforts we can not as good parents and community members stand idly by and allow this to happen. He must find a safer more secure location for all parties concerned," Mentecki wrote.

See the full Gazette article: mdgazette.com/content/feud-rages-over-glen-burnie-homeless-center.