Ministry leader: Denial of homeless shelter won't stop mission
The pending denial of plans for a would-be homeless shelter in Kane County's unincorporated Valley View area may force the leader of a local ministry to choose between the law and what he believes is God's calling.
The homeless shelter plans would allow up to 20 people to stay overnight in beds set up inside the gymnasium of the H.E.L.P.S. Ministry. Angelo Valdes runs the ministry. Both the application and Valdes' ability to successfully help homeless people get on their feet have been widely questioned by neighbors of the ministry. When neighbors began circulating a petition against the application, the momentum against the shelter surged. The county's Zoning Board of Appeals recommended denial of the application last week after initially favoring it earlier this year.
Valdes was not present Tuesday when the Kane County Board's Development Committee agreed with the zoning board in denying the application. Committee member John Hoscheit said he wasn't convinced Valdes had the staff and training to help homeless people get back on their feet and deal with any problems that may arise.
"A homeless shelter is something that needs to exist in the county," Hoscheit said. "The goals of the property owner are valid and legitimate. If this use were granted we would have to have significant staff involvement in monitoring what went on there just to make sure that the rules were followed. I'm not sure we have the resources to do that."
The committee voted 7 to 0 to deny the application. That represents more than half the votes needed to defeat Valdes' application when the full county board takes a final vote next month.
Valdes said he has no doubt the county board will deny his application. He said he wasn't even aware he was expected to show up for the committee vote Tuesday. Valdes believed the zoning board's vote against the plan meant his application was dead. And he has no reason to show up for the county board vote with an inevitable outcome, he said.
"After the process was messed up, and the zoning board had to revote, the writing was on the wall at that point," Valdes said. "They were waiting for the groundswell against the project to grow. Then, once they had that, they could say it will be detrimental to the community as a whole. But I did everything they asked me to do."
Asked about how he'll choose between what he believes God is calling him to do and what the law says he can do if a homeless person shows up at the ministry, Valdes said he'll side with God.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen," Valdes said. "But I'm going to let God lead."
Valdes said he knows that may mean there's trouble for him down the road. In fact, Valdes said the county's health department recently told him he needs to get a new permit for the ministry's fellowship hall because they occasionally have food for people there. Valdes said he plans to help people no matter what the county says.
"I've always done what God says to do, not what the county says I can."