Month: April 2009

SHARE: Sex offender screening ‘un-American’

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Members of the homeless group that were planning to move into an overnight shelter at Calvary Lutheran Church have written a letter responding to the controversy over sex offender screening. The letter, faxed to My Ballard, explains that the SHARE group was “disinvited” from staying at Calvary after “some neighbors became hysterical and threatened the church if they let us come.” The SHARE members said the church asked them to changing their screening process to begin checking for sex offenders, a requirement they called “un-American” and a result of “homelessphobia” discrimination.

(File photo of SHARE members with Our Redeemer’s Pastor Steve Grumm). “How many times have we had a problem with a sex offender at a SHARE shelter? NEVER. NOT ONCE,” the letter reads. “Sex offenders are not welcome in SHARE church shelters. We just don’t need a sex offender check during screening to move them on. The proof is in our well-run shelters and the complete lack of neighborhood problems where we stay.” The letter explains they believe they can find another church, temple or mosque that won’t require the checks. “We’ll be all right,” they write.

The controversy began when Our Redeemer’s Church, which oversees the now-vacant Calvary Lutheran Church, invited 20 members of SHARE to form an overnight shelter. Many neighbors in a community meeting demanded that SHARE submit to sex offender checks, a request that the church passed to SHARE, which as you can see, has refused to submit to them. Our Redeemer’s says it’s still working with SHARE in an attempt to come to a resolution.

Meanwhile, a My Ballard reader pointed out in comments on an earlier story that the city of Redmond has included a sex offender screening requirement in the temporary use permit for Tent City 4 (.pdf), which is made up of SHARE members. “Tent City 4 shall report any positive results of sex offenders or warrant checks to the Redmond Police Department,” the requirement reads.

The full letter from SHARE members follows below…