Years ago, when the Reverend Larry Rice’s church/shelter, the New Life Evangelistic Center, was in danger of being shut down because of complaints and code violations, people wondered what would happen to St. Louis’ homeless population. At the time, the downtown shelter was the area’s largest, serving, on average, 300 people per night in the winter months. Finally, after a years-long battle with the city and neighbors, the shelter was shuttered in April 2017.
Now the city is allowing New Life to reopen, but only as a church. Slated to open early this year, after $350,000 in required renovations and repairs, the facility will include a free store with essentials, resources to connect clients with local homeless shelters, and a place for worship.
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At the same time, Rice must decide: To what lengths is he willing to go to reopen the shelter?
Originally opened in 1976, the shelter had a checkered past. For years, there were neighborhood complaints that shelter residents would fight, urinate, and distribute and use drugs on nearby streets. In 2008, one homeless man, Robert Gamble, stabbed another, Jeremy Dunlap, to death there. Other crimes—rapes and assaults—occurred at New Life locations in Joplin, Springfield, and New Bloomfield.
The city cited New Life for over-occupancy, plumbing and exhaust problems, and bedbugs. It revoked Rice’s permit and, when he continued to operate, issued a cease-and-desist notice.
Today, Rice is willing to make at least one concession if the shelter is allowed to reopen: It would house fewer overnight guests than in the past, he says.
“Before, we had upward of 300 people. We’d be willing to sit down and talk to them about lowering that even as much as to 150 or whatever we had to do,” Rice says.
Rice contends that providing shelter to homeless people is a central part of how he would like to practice his religion. “Providing shelter [is] in the mandates of Scripture,” he says, adding that reopening the shelter could take years amid legal battles. “We would need, if not the Missouri Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court to rule that the provision of shelter is a function of worship and that our worship should not be limited by the desires of our neighbors.” He says he has an attorney and is bringing the issue of reopening the shelter to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Brad Waldrop, a developer who’s worked in the area, says Rice is marketing New Life as a church because the Constitution protects religious freedom. “There are broad descriptions that might make him feel like a church, but I think it’s solely a ploy on his part to try to stay open,” he says. He claims that Rice failed to hire staff, security, and social workers. “We would never want him to reopen.” In mid-December, neighbors filed an appeal calling for the city to revoke the church permit.
In the meantime, many homeless St. Louisans rely on temporary housing at more than 700 shelters across the city and county, including St. Patrick Center. Many of the spaces offer residents meals and places to sleep. Irene Agustin, the city’s director of human services, distinguishes between sheltering people and housing them. She says the goal of a shelter is to provide a safe and warm temporary space but not a permanent home: “In the last few years, our community has been focused on housing first. Our goal, especially with everything pertaining to homelessness, is that connection to housing.”
Seeking shelter? Individuals without shelter can call the St. Louis Region Housing Helpline at 314-802-5444 or resource line 211.
