Mercy Culture Church is accusing the City of Fort Worth of discrimination over bureaucratic procedures delaying the development of a human trafficking victims shelter known as the Justice Residence.
Mercy Culture applied for a commercial building permit on July 10, but upon review, the city ruled that the proposed shelter did not comply with its land-use rules, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The city’s determination would mean that Mercy Cultuer would need to rezone before building the proposed 100-bed shelter. The rezoning would require the city to have a public hearing before the zoning commission and approval from the city council.
Lead Pastor Heather Schott slammed the city’s move. Schott said the church has been battling the city for years and is being discriminated against.
“The city of Fort Worth and the zoning committee, let me make this clear, does not determine what those activities are. The Bible does,” she said, reported FWST.
“The city of Fort Worth is trying to stop us from building the Justice Residence. The largest long term restoration home for survivors of human trafficking,” Schott said in an Instagram video.
“They are trying to stop it. And this is insane,” Schott added.
Mercy Culture posted a call to action on their Instagram page, which has the contact information of all council members and Mayor Mattie Parker.
“Demand that they stop discriminating against Mercy Culture and allow us to move forward in building the Justice Residence,” the call to action stated.
The Dallas Express reached out to the City of Fort Worth but did not receive a response by the time of publication.