Center would nourish souls

A Christian group awaits zoning approval to build a facility that offers Bible-based treatment.

By JIM ROSS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 15, 2000

LECANTO -- A Christian group is seeking county permission to build what it calls a residential spiritual treatment center.

The group, known as the Path of Citrus County, has an option to buy 20 acres off Menasha Street, which is just west of County Road 490 and south of State Road 44.

The Path will exercise its purchase option only if the Planning and Development Review Board grants a conditional use that would allow the Path to build and operate a 30-bed facility on that land.

The property is zoned for low-density residential development. A treatment center is a permitted use in such areas only if the board approves.

The board is scheduled to consider that matter during its June 15 meeting. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the Lecanto Government Building, 3600 W Sovereign Path. The matter will not go to the County Commission.

County staff was completing its report on the application this week and had not yet decided to recommend approval or denial. Two residents with land near the site have formally registered disapproval of the plan, but a third has signaled approval.

DuWayne Sipper, 38, of Hernando is executive director of the project. The Path is a nonprofit, interdenominational group.

Sipper said the center will be a place where people can live -- long term, if necessary -- and receive intensive, Bible-based, Christian spiritual care.

Men, women and children will be welcome. All residents will have a curfew. They will work in the community or pursue their educations, if they are able. They will study the Bible and pray.

Sipper was careful to say the facility will not be a homeless shelter. Rather, it will provide spiritual help to the people who live here, or come here, and need physical and religious assistance.

Stuart Green, chairman of the Path's board of directors, noted that a shelter takes people in for a night or two, helps meet their immediate needs, then sends them off. The Path intends to do more, hoping its clients "get a chance to get a fresh start on life."

Citrus is home to dozens of churches, many of which need a place to send people who have spiritual needs, Sipper said. Then there is the Citrus County jail, which releases many former inmates each week.

"With those kind of numbers," Sipper said, "we'll be swamped" with referrals.

The Path has worked for several years trying to establish this kind of facility, Sipper said. Sipper made headlines three years ago when he unsuccessfully petitioned the county to turn the old jail in downtown Inverness into a shelter for the poor and homeless.

The Path is part of the International Union of Gospel Missions, based in Kansas City.

"Basically there are more than 200 other missions that have joined and who are basically doing what we want to do. We wanted to get the mentoring from those who have already been there and done it," Sipper told the Citrus Times last year.

The Menasha Street site is fairly remote. Still, Sipper said he would understand why nearby residents would have concerns, especially about safety.

"It's just a fear of the unknown," Sipper said.

Sipper planned to meet with Sheriff Jeff Dawsy to discuss the project. Sipper also noted that residents, while not in a locked-down facility, will be well supervised and working "under a very tight schedule."

"The people we're trying to work with are . . . people that want to change their lives," Sipper said.

Green, the board chairman, said some people who live near the proposed site have raised concerns. In the long run, however, Green said he thought the facility would be positive for all Citrus County.

"The people that we would be helping are out in the community right now," he noted. "And they're more of a threat to the county when they are not receiving any help."

The Path's efforts to establish this center received a boost in 1999, when someone donated land in Ozello. The group sold that property and is using the money to finance the Lecanto land purchase and subsequent construction.

Of course, the Path needs more money to get the center built and to maintain an operating budget. The group plans to open a thrift store and start a newsletter to help generate revenue.

Prayer and faith have gotten them this far, Sipper said.

"There's no reason to stop that step of faith," Sipper said.

For information about the Path of Citrus County Christian group, call 341-0551.

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