Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 1, 1995                   TAG: 9511010026
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WITH JUSTICE CONDEMNED, TENANTS MOVE ON WITH LIVES

A nine-month Justice House resident, Stone feared more than the loss of his apartment.

``They can't make me leave without my stuff,'' Stone said, vowing to sit outside all night to watch for looters.

By Tuesday - the day boards went over the first-floor windows and padlocks replaced handles on the front doors - all the tenants had left, including Stone.

Justice House was founded by former Mennonite pastor David Hayden as part of his ministry to the poor and the homeless. Old apartment buildings at Elm Avenue and First Street Southwest were converted into housing for the poor. But Hayden left Justice House late last year; in his absence, the community fell apart.

Amid confusion over who actually owns the buildings, utility bills didn't get paid and water and electricity were cut off. The city condemned the buildings, and residents were forced to leave.

Old sofas on the lawn and a broken toy truck next to empty gin bottles were evidence Tuesday night of the lives affected. They are families and this was their home.

Wendy Moore, director of Roanoke Area Ministries, said Tuesday that the agency is helping residents of 14 of the 19 apartments at Justice House.

``Everybody was very cooperative,'' Moore said. ``Public and private [agencies] came together.''

Dave Baldwin, Roanoke's director of housing, said two families are living in public housing developments and three more are in the application process.

One family's application was denied. Others went to live with relatives or friends.

The Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions took responsibility for boarding up Justice House until it can ask a court to decide the issue of ownership. It says the buildings were transferred to Hayden's church five years ago. The congregation has since disbanded.

From early Friday through Monday morning, the last of the Justice House tenants pooled their resources to rent moving trucks and hauled away sofas, televisions and clothes. The hurry in their step was spurred by two fears: the day they would be locked out and the thieves that had looted stereos and appliances.

Many tenants were sleeping elsewhere but had left their belongings in their apartments Thursday night. That evening, several residents said stereo equipment and appliances were stolen.

Under these conditions, moving downright shattered some tenants' nerves.

Insults flew from people in one building to tenants of the other. Claims of poor parenting and theft were thrown across the gulf that separated people who once had called each other friends.

Family members held the arms of two women Friday night to keep them from fighting as they screamed a stream of profanity and accusations. Police officers tried to mediate.

Brenda Love, a Justice House resident, said she had given ``these people'' money out of her pocket when they had none. The fighting left her feeling angry and betrayed.

``It just ain't right,'' she said.