Oakhurst residents skeptical of Fort Worth church’s plans to house trafficking victims
Oakhurst residents concerned about a nearby church’s plans to build a shelter for survivors of human trafficking left an informational meeting Thursday frustrated that their questions weren’t answered.
Additionally, they said, they felt like representatives of Mercy Culture Church lied to them regarding the church’s request for a zoning change that would allow it to build transitional residences to house up to 100 women. The city staff has recommended that the request be denied because the proposed home is not compatible with the surrounding single-family homes and housing would eliminate much of the parking needed for the church.
Heather Schott, a Mercy Culture pastor, told residents that church leaders would only answer questions that had been submitted in writing, but residents said afterward even those questions were not addressed by church leaders.
About 100 people attended the meeting, but it was not clear how many were church members and how many were residents of the nearby Oakhurst and Riverside neighborhoods.
Schott started the meeting by telling residents that she was addicted to drugs and alcohol in her youth and that she was almost sexually assaulted.
She claimed that some spas are secretly used for human trafficking and prostitution. She said she’s “not too fond of facts” because they are gathered by governments, whose leaders are “clients” of human trafficking — a key view of the unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory.
Then she cited an estimate shared by the Department of Homeland Security that 40.3 million people worldwide were in modern slavery or a forced marriage in 2016.
Schott later spent 13 minutes reading and answering questions that she said were submitted beforehand, but residents said none of their questions were included.
Schott said the church wanted to make sure human trafficking survivors who came to the residences would be “surrounded” to keep them from willingly going back into human trafficking. She said host families would be arranged for children of survivors, but would not say how often children and their mothers would be allowed to see each other.
Asked who would lead therapy and what specific licensing would be required for staff, Schott didn’t provide clear answers except to say all nurses and doctors would be required to have licenses.
Schott was also asked why she didn’t take questions in a Q&A format since she did not read the ones that had been submitted. She said would rather be at her daughter’s softball game than at the meeting, which she had called.
One woman who identified herself as a representative of The Justice Reform (a church ministry) was seen walking out of the room with a stack of what appeared to be dozens of filled out questionnaires. She told a resident later that Justice Reform members threw out about 20 questions they felt were not serious or would be antagonistic.
Residents said after the meeting they want to support efforts to aid survivors of human trafficking, but aren’t sure Mercy Culture and The Justice Reform are the right people to be doing it. After not having questions answered, some said their doubts have only grown.