Latest news with #OpenDoorMinistries
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Carolina advocacy groups react to bill proposing rules for homeless camps
(WGHP) — From Greensboro to Thomasville, homeless camps have been a concern with citizens for years. The solutions vary as to how leaders believe the problem can be addressed. Randolph County Representative Brian Biggs is proposing a unique solution, but not everyone agrees with it. This new bill would move the homeless population to designated the advocates say this could lead to bigger problems. 'There's so many tents. There's so many homeless there, and it's unsanitary … This bill … Does it criminalize homelessness? No. It addresses the use of public property for camping and sleeping without prohibiting homelessness itself,' Biggs said. Biggs is sponsoring House Bill 781. That bill would allow local leaders to designate city-owned properties for those who are unhoused to live. This would only take effect if the indoor shelters run out of space, and it's meant to be a temporary fix, only allowing up to a year. Ryan Ross is the director of Open Door Ministries, which is a non-profit organization in High Point that helps the homeless. He says the proposal can cause more issues. 'People are then just going to move around and instead of congregating in one area where you can control it a little, they are going to spread out even more,' he said. Janise Hurley, director of Davidson Medical Ministries, a non-profit organization that serves as a gateway to community resources for those facing homelessness, says other states have gone down a similar path with no luck. 'It hasn't benefited the people in general. It has only continued to increase the significant issue we've already been seeing, and it could be crime, trash. It could be personal hygiene issues,' she said. FOX8 brought these concerns to Biggs. 'I strongly believe in the importance of listening to those directly impacted by our policies … Input from affected individuals and service providers should be part of that conversation at the local level,' he said. The organizations say they are on the front lines working with the homeless population every single day, and they believe policies like this one often forget the real people. 'Know the population you are dealing with before you make these decisions,' Ross said. 'We have to look at each person as an individual, and we know we treat people with problems. We don't treat people as problems,' Hurley said. According to Biggs' office, the bill passed out of a North Carolina House committee on Tuesday and could be up for a vote as early as Wednesday. If it becomes law, it will go into effect in October. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Confusion reigns over US grant freeze
HIGH POINT — High Point-area nonprofit representatives, like their counterparts across the country, are struggling to figure out how a possible freeze on federal grants will affect them and the services they provide to people in need. Among them is Ryan Ross, executive director for Open Door Ministries, who said a federal grant freeze could affect $300,000 allocated annually for a program that offers long-term housing to homeless people with chronic mental health issues or physical disabilities. Open Door Ministries currently has 25 people in the program supported by federal funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Amid the confusion, the administration of President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered conflicting messages on the proposal to freeze most federal grants loans, including grants to nonprofit organizations. At the first of the week, the administration announced the freeze so that federal administrators could review programs for liberal or politically correct biases that run askew of Trump's recent barrage of executive orders. The order meant that no money provided by federal grants of any kind could be spent, potentially shutting down many services. Organizations such as Meals on Wheels, which receives federal money to deliver food to the elderly, were worried about getting cut off. Even temporary interruptions in funding could cause layoffs or delays in services. A federal judge late Tuesday afternoon issued a minute stay on the grant freeze and scheduled a hearing for this coming Monday. The White House faced a backlash across the country from advocates for nonprofits and pressure from elected officials besieged by upset constituents, The Associated Press reports, and on Wednesday formally rescinded the memorandum that ordered the freeze. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the reviews of spending will go ahead in any case in all agencies and departments. A statement from the legislative office of state Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, who works regularly with nonprofit groups locally, said the consequences of a federal grant freeze could be dire. 'We will be working with local stakeholders and other entities to ensure continued service to our vulnerable communities until this crisis is resolved, and we call upon our GOP colleagues to demand an end to this crisis at once,' the statement said.
