Shelter Wins Legal Battle, Finally Re-Opens
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- Опубликовано: 27 ноя 2023
- The Barber Shelter first opened its doors over 30 years ago, providing overnight refuge to people who are temporarily homeless and have nowhere else to go. It is the only homeless shelter in Wilkes County and sleeps, on average, fewer than a dozen people per night.
ij.org/case/north-carolina-sh...
In 2020, the Barber Shelter was looking for a new space when a local dentist generously offered his former office building as a location. The space was perfect: It was in an ideal part of town-near the services the shelter’s clients use, far from residential areas-and met each of the town’s zoning requirements. All it needed was a permit.
But the town was not interested in allowing the Barber Shelter to care for the area’s neediest. Instead, it invented bogus reasons to deny the shelter its permit, such as concerns about the shelter’s clients walking on the sidewalk near a busy road. But that is nonsensical; the town requires homeless shelters to have sidewalks and be situated near major roads.
The government’s reasoning meant that there was nowhere in town for the shelter to go. But the Constitution prohibits governments from ruling by paradox, and so the Barber Shelter teamed up with IJ to fight back. We sued the town, and, a few days before Christmas 2021, a federal court sided with IJ and the shelter, concluding that “deference cannot be an excuse for the Court to abdicate its duty to protect the constitutional rights of all people.”
Victory in hand, the Barber Shelter got to work renovating the property.
It now provides short-term housing for up to 10 men on the first floor and six women and a family on the second floor. There are kitchens, common areas, laundry facilities, and other necessities to provide comfort during a difficult time.
The opening ceremony memorialized an important principle: Government shouldn’t stand in the way of private citizens using their own property and initiative to help the least fortunate in their communities.
IJ is simply the best.
God forbid somebody do something about a problem that State or Federal Government refuses to do themselves.
So good to see the good guys win.
I wish I could convey my utter contempt for those that wanted to keep this shelter from opening. I hope none of *THEM* ever need a place of refuge. I wish The Barber Shelter a very long, and happy operation for those in need. God Bless everyone who fought to make it happen, and thank you to The Institute for Justice for fighting against the tyranny of some *true* hypocrites.
sounds like the next step is to change the towns leadership to a group interested helping the community rather than refusing businesses that do.
Too right, the fact the case went to court at all is evidence of the town leadership's ignorance. They must have thought they were justified in their actions or they would have dropped the whole thing as soon as they knew the IJ were involved. When officials blatantly violate constitutional rights and believe they are right and legally justified to do so, they absolutely need to go.
@@spudhead169also the fact that the city used taxpayers money to fight this is so egregious. They need to be held accountable for their tyrannical actions.
Sounds like that town needs to do what they did in Michigan!
Easy fix, stop paying taxes.
@@Grokrootand who is going to hold them accountable, scared sheeple ?😂
Glad to see another win for the good, sad to know people need to fight for common decency even among government institutions.
Just think how cruel people are working for our government. It's so sad. It's like becoming CCP.
Sad to see that so called ”people" keep on paying them taxes.
You should see how much the government gets from your dead body, they want you to donate organs so they can charge someone 400k for your heart. And blood is around 2k a liter and again government wants you to donate@@rightsdontcomewithpermits7073
@@rightsdontcomewithpermits7073 It's no surprise. Taxes are collected ultimately under the threat of force.
Most people in this day and age are just a few paychecks away from being homeless.
By the year 2050 in America the top one percent will own sixty percent of the wealth. The middle class will dissappear little by little. And something like seventy percent won't be able to own a home.
TRUTH
I was a hard working pharmacy tech, going back to college to get a degree to become a certified sign language interpreter to help serve the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in my area, who were underserved. I was working 32-40 hours a week, school 10-12 hours a week and 12 hours of commutes between the two. I overworked myself to the point that my autonomic system basically shut down and left me disabled.
I made it from January until May with no new income, and then wasn't able to pay my rent in June. My landlord told me if I promised I could get back on my feet and get to work, they'd work with me, otherwise they'd give me a couple months to get settled somewhere else instead of evicting me, which was VERY generous.
One of my friends offered his spare bedroom, three hours away, or I'd have been living out of my car. It took five years fighting with the SSA to get my disability. One of their rejection letters said that because I was going out and spending time with my family, and raising two kids on my own, I clearly could work a fulltime job.
I don't have kids and my family's all dead or too far away to visit. My mom died about two years before I got sick, and my dad died a year and a half after I got sick. Who was I visiting? Where did these kids even come from??? 😂
If you're lucky, you can make it a couple weeks without work. IDK how anybody's able to manage it.
Good on you doctor! And all of those who worked so hard to serve the most unfortunate among us
I rarely say this, but I'm glad the "good" Christians won over the other folks who probably also consider themselves Christian but inexplicably have so little compassion for their fellow human. Helping those less fortunate should be the absolutely number one tenet of Christianity, and yet here we see how hard these good folks had to fight just to do that. Shame on the people in this town who fought this, they need to do some serious soul searching.
It's a shame that councils/counties/governments, etc, don't put as much into helping the most vulnerable in society, as they do moving them on so they're out of sight.
Awesome victory. Now the community of that town needs to clean house of their local government.
Faith in humanity restored🙏🏽
Homelessness is a huge fear of mine. No person should be unsheltered. Especially children.
Homelessness can scar a person for life. It changed my outlook on everything.
@@DeborahFlorian-gy6lw homelessness anywhere is inhumane, but especially in a country like The US where it snows and temperatures dip below freezing in some places. My heart aches for anyone who ends up homeless. It angers me even more if it’s someone who served in the military. Not that their life is more important than any other, but the fact that they put their life on the line to serve and protect another person’s freedom is to be acknowledged. They ought to be guaranteed a home permanently.
@kellyannr4171 some people do choose to be homeless because of whatever reasons they have. I wish their was a place for all who cannot pay for housing aimed at rehabilitation and getting people involved back to being productive self sufficient lifestyle again
IJ does such good work.
I'm so sick of the government and their war on the less fortunate. We pay taxes for them to support our rights, not trample all over them. Kudos to Dr Roberts!
😂😂. If we pay them tax to "support our rights" then we truly deserve what they do to us.
@@rightsdontcomewithpermits7073 We don't "pay them tax" - are you even American? Otherwise, you'd understand the difference and your summation wouldn't be so off the wall incorrect
We pay taxes under a threat of violence from government.
Thank everyone at The Institute for Justice for taking on this very important case.
Same thing happened to my community. Mostly due to the locals and the whole “not in my backyard” attitude
And how many homeless people do you have living with you?
Oh .. none...
Guess not in your back yard either
@@KenMabie Silly ad hominem attack.
@@Lex-Rex It's not silly. I have a strong desire to help others, to create communities of harmony, but I do struggle with NIMBY knowing that shelters harbor some people who are a danger to societies, those few people are disruptive everywhere they go and I admit I do not want to live where they are. I don't like this in me, but it's there. I am torn between helping others and my own peace, safety and economic investments (my house). At least I'm honest about it.
@@virginiamoss7045 Why are you replying to me? I am referring to a different respondent that made a silly remark that the average Joe should just open their home so homeless people to have a place to stay.
Yes, but if they’re not in a shelter, they’re gonna be in your backyard looking for stuff
Incredible the hatred our governments have for us. Glad good people exist who stand up for justice
Everyone needs a safe place to lay their heads at night. ❤
😇this is a good guy win all the way around . now if we could only fire the people that denied the permit inthe first place.
Sometimes one only needs a helping hand to move foward with life and i hope the good doctor and his family will live long and healthy.
On the otherhand the least harmonious thing in this story is the local politicians. I hope karma comes back to them.
Such a selfless gift. Especially this day of age we are living in.
From all the videos I've seen on the homeless issue, it seems governments make the problem worse and private citizens are truly helping people. Government needs to let private citizens do what they do best and get out of the way.
Congratulations! It’s wild that the town tried to get in the way
What an amazing gesture from the dentist!
Wonderful work by Institute for Justice, as usual. Cudos to the dentist who provided the building without slapping his name on the building. Humility and charity, much like IJ.
Fantastic work Institute for Justice!
Something shady AF going on in that town that doesn't want a homeless shelter to open up.
God bless you for standing up for justice!
Wish they would do something about the SQ ft. requirements many cities have that block people from building smaller homes.
Good people doing good things for others, it shouldn’t be this hard.
That is wonderful.
This is good news. Thank you.
Wonderful victory for freedom, disappointing that the government even thought to challenge it.
Congrats Institute for Justice!
So how many people fell through the cracks in the years that the shelter could not opperate,due to overreaching government? Why is it always a battle between the people and government?
We have a local shelter that's struggling with this. Hopefully it helps them
When my city built and relocated the men's homeless shelter it was moved from downtown to over by the county jail. Their was almost no one living within the area for a good 200 yards
People think that if people are down on their luck, they will turn to theft and drugs. The fact is, most of those who sreal and use drugs are the one's who live in plain sight as so called respectable citizens.
What wonderful work you do! Always inspirational & touching!
Great win. Thank you for your awesome work.
Great job ij!!
Outstanding effort & result 😃👍! Keep up the great work!
Every time I see someone down on their luck, I always remind myself there I go but for the Grace of God…
Thank God !
Just the standard zoning restrictions in many communities are an onerous intrusion on property ownership. When the nimbys get together with local government to try to exceed already severe restrictions, they are in effect stealing the property. There should be severe repercussions for governmental entities or individuals that engage in this kind of behavior.
Their is a good reason why people don't want to be near homeless people or a shelter.
@jonathanjones3126
Indeed there are good reasons why someone wouldn't want to be near a homeless shelter, or for that matter, and Industrial Waste facility, or an airport. But, if you built your home right next to an area zoned for an airport and Industrial facility or other undesirable enterprise's, you can't gripe later when businesses want to use the land or the property as zoning legally allows them to do.
I have a lot of experience with shelters. Most of the time, they can be a magnet for problems but that largely results from the way they are run. I'm happy that this case turned out well because, despite the potential for problems, it was private property and the owners were trying to do something good. The bad guys in this story were the government actors. I wish they had been slapped with a penalty that would cover operating costs for some period of time.
The shelter I stayed at for awhile commonly kicked out/checked for drugs before entry every time, if you had drugs or their paraphernalia you where denied entry/banned for a year
My home, on a cul de sac, doesn't have a sidewalk either but nobody stopped any of us living there. In fact, most of the town doesn't! Around the common (town center) and near the schools (except the high school) they can be found but dang, our whole town would have to be shut down by this reasoning...
The IJ is the best, thumbs up!!!
Thank you, I.J.
Harmonious? WTF does that even mean? They just didn't want poor people in that area.
A follow up video showing the outcome. I'd love to see more of these..
Yes, there are angels 👼among the devils!
You guys at IJ are awesome!!!
Great work 👍👏
Good work I.J.
This is wonderful ❤️.
Some people lost their careers during the pandemic and got evicted because they could not afford the rent, while that was going on landlords raised rent prices and house prices doubled, 3 years ago a 3 bedroom place would be 300 a week at most, some are now 600 a week. there is no law on how much you can rip people off yet there are laws for the super poor who do not have a place to stay. my life has changed simply because the price of rent and buying a house.
Zoning is a goddamned racket.
Good for them. 👍🙂 👍
NIMBY is what's that's all about.
Such a great story and happy ending. As always, great job, IJ. 👍
Amen! I want to start a shelter myself... It's my long life dream
I just got home from my dentist, dentist are some of the best people you'll ever see, most all of them, will help you in some way.
“That’s called, kicking ass n taking names!!”
I have to convey my appreciation for the Institute for Justice
Thank you..
Good work IJ ! 🐴
Keep up the great work! Thank you!
The governments main job is the make you 100% reliant on the government!!!
Love to hear good news!
Excellent lawyerin'.
And the county commissioners who made that horrible decision, are long gone and cost the county a ton of money.
Thank you Lord for IfJ...
Fantastic!
What are the names of the officials who were trying to block this?
If I had been the judge I would have ordered the city to build a sidewalk. I would have then asked them what else were they objecting to. I’m sure they would have withdrawn all their objections after the order to build a sidewalk.
Bravo!
Awesome job......😊🙏✌️
"The sidewalk is a problem because it requires people to walk next to the road."
Let that sink in...
Wonderful
Awesome
A perfect example of the Streisand effect, Im glad they got the govt a-holes out of the way.
Thank you
A sidewalk next to the road! Who ever heard of that! Go get'em!
Only with your after-tax dollars can you pay to fight injustices wrought by your tax dollars. What a sorry state.
This case isn't just about property rights, but also bigotry.
Bravo IJ
Right on!
Some people are just evil and they are usually the one in politics making the laws.
Not in my back yard lost!!
Amen!
Thanks for sharing. Shalom in Jesus.
Outstanding
I bet the Mayor or someone else with influence owned the property next door....smh
thank u
God bless
Ridiculous, what kind of town would do this?
Cheers heros.
God bless that dentist.
Awesome!
Nice win!
Love you guys! Great job
I work everyday to help homless veterans find permanent housing. It’s is shocking how many municipalities refuse to acknowledge that there are homeless people in their communities.