Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A utopian vision of a nurturing, self-sustaining community of the poor called Justice House has collapsed into a nightmare of decay, drugs and despair, some of its residents say.
Since the departure of charismatic founder David Hayden in January, conditions at the former apartment building on Elm Avenue Southwest have gone from bad to worse, four-year resident Daryoush Khalajabdi said Wednesday.
Electricity to the building was cut off Tuesday, then restored Wednesday afternoon, said Jodye Matchett, one of a group of tenants who helped collect $200 to get the power back on.
The community, made up of poor and formerly homeless people, still owes $1,700 in electric bills, more than $1,000 for water, almost $2,000 for gas, and more than $500 for collection of trash that now stands in a smelly mound around an overflowing receptacle in the parking lot.
Matchett and a group of other tenants who took a reporter and photographer on a tour of the facility contended that most residents have been paying their $150-a-month rent, and blamed the managers who collect that rent with failing to get the bills paid.
Though resident Robert LeLoup has been doing some painting and repairs in sections of the building, major structural problems persist.
Some of the 20 apartments have doors that won't close or lock; plumbing leaks abound; ceilings in one third-floor apartment have collapsed, exposing holes in the roof above. Sets of stairs on the back porches wobble noticeably and have pulled away from their supports. Many apartments don't have any appliances and are overrun with roaches.
Though the problems seem insurmountable to some, Khalajabdi believes "if we could find the right kind of manager to organize things," the community and the buildings can be salvaged.
But, he and Matchett ask, "Who is going to be responsible? Who will take over?"
The question of responsibility for the buildings and the governing of the community may take some time to answer.
David Hayden insists he left the community in the care of Roanoke Area Ministries, an ecumenical social-services agency that provides emergency financial aid to families in financial crisis and runs a day shelter for the homeless.
A RAM spokeswoman said that agency agreed only to study taking over responsibility for the Justice House facility, and decided after Hayden left not to do so.
The Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions, which gave the property to the Justice House residents in June 1990, says it doesn't know who is now responsible for the buildings.
Matchett and Khalajabdi don't seem to care who is put in charge as long as somebody takes responsibility. They say they've seen drugs dealt on the property and worry that the building is no longer safe for its 40 to 50 residents, who include eight to 10 children.
The experiment in communal living was established shortly after Hayden, a pharmaceutical-salesman-turned-Mennonite pastor, arrived in Roanoke in 1985.
Hayden had his $26,000-a-year ministerial stipend assigned to Justice House, which also was classified as a congregation of the Mennonite Church. He preached a fiery brand of "liberation theology," contending that Jesus' message of salvation was only for the poor.
Hayden became known for his unrelenting confrontational approach to local government and social-service agencies, whose policies he blamed for keeping the poor in poverty and subjugation. His disruptive protests of government funding for Explore Park and Mill Mountain Zoo while contending the needs of the homeless were not being met drew extensive local news coverage. He also participated in several national demonstrations and fasts to draw attention to the plight of the homeless.
Hayden eventually came to attack even his own denomination as racist, murderous and demonic. It responded in November 1989 by lifting Hayden's ministerial credentials and later by cutting off funds to Justice House.
After Hayden and some Justice House residents threatened to disrupt a meeting of the denomination at its regional headquarters in Harrisonburg, the Board of Missions in 1990 agreed to turn over title of the Justice House property to its residents, with the provision that if the property were ever sold, the proceeds would go to the denomination.
Board of Missions President David Yoder said Wednesday from his Harrisonburg office that the denomination's attorney is now looking into the possibility that the deed transfer was never completed in Roanoke courts.
Records here apparently still show the church as the owner.
Hayden, who has moved to Floyd County where he works with a program for disabled youth, said Wednesday that he is no longer involved in Justice House.
"I wish I could jump in there, wave a magic wand, and all those people's needs would be met," he said. "That should be a concern for all of us."
Hayden decried what he said was a failure to "take ownership and responsibility" for the community by both the Mennonite Church and Roanoke Area Ministries.
He said he asked RAM last year to take responsibility for the Justice House program of sheltering the poor and homeless, and he contends the agency agreed to do that.
Hayden said that although "it was time to change gears" when he left Justice House, he only did so because Roanoke Area Ministries asked that he disassociate himself from the community as a condition for taking over.
Wendy Moore, who became RAM's executive director after its interaction with Hayden, says her agency only agreed to study the possibility of taking over Justice House. It did that, she said, and determined that it would cost too much - in the neighborhood of $500,000 - to bring the facility up to building code requirements. In addition, she said, her agency decided it needed to focus on its mission of providing emergency financial aid to the poor and running its day shelter and feeding program for the homeless.
Yoder said the Mennonite Church likewise believes the Justice House property would be unreasonably expensive to rehabilitate, even if it is found that the church does still have legal title to the property. Yoder said the denomination will ask the courts to determine the issue of ownership.
"In the long run, I believe the residents are going to have to relocate," because of the building's poor condition, Yoder said.
Moore was in contact with a host of social-service agencies Tuesday alerting them to the possibility of an exodus from Justice House. Representatives of those agencies will meet with Justice House representatives Monday morning to describe what assistance they can provide, Moore said.
"We stand ready to assist them with emergency financial assistance," to help residents who want to relocate, Moore said.
by CNB