Our Redeemers: ‘More than deeply saddened’

Over the weekend, a Level III sex offender was removed from the SHARE homeless shelter at Calvary Lutheran church. Pastor Steve Grumm of Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church, which oversees the Calvary property, told us today that he is “more than deeply saddened by this.”

“It’s not only a surprise, but an alarm,” he said. Grumm said he’s held several conversations since the weekend with SHARE about the organization’s screening process, which does not include sex offender background checks. “They seem open to additional accountability,” Grumm said, adding that the task force set up to monitor the shelter plans to meet with SHARE later this week. Neighborhood representatives of the task force are demanding that sex offender checks “be immediately implemented,” but a SHARE representative told us on Monday that the sex offender incident “doesn’t change anything.”

“We had something going,” Pastor Grumm says about how well the Calvary Lutheran shelter was running before this weekend. “Neighbors were even bringing residents food.” Grumm said he plans to meet with neighbors next week after he’s spoken more in-depth with SHARE.