Hillsborough Fire Marshal Hinders Non Profit Mission Ministry

Tampa, FL (I-Newswire) January 11, 2011 - 2011 started off with turmoil for the Light House Gospel Mission's Women's Faith Home as the Fire Marshal of Hillsborough County, Stephen Kendrick issued the ministry a cease and desist order. The order was to immediately evacuate the home that housed 12 women. The reason was the house was not up to a stringent fire code, and needed a change of occupancy usage.

The Light House Gospel Mission has been a spiritual pillar in the Tampa Bay community since 1952. Over the years they have helped feed the hungry throughout the Tampa Bay area. Just in 2010 alone they provided 66,835 pounds of food to 935 families in the area, while also providing 202,628 pounds of food to 18 other ministries throughout Tampa.

In 2005 Mosaic Corporation donated the use of a home to Light House Gospel Mission on 78th Street, so they could expand their faith home mission to women.

The Mission helps rehabilitate, former drug addicts and those with other life controlling issues, in the area that require help re-establishing their lives through this 18-month regeneration program. This objective is acquired by providing room and board, clothing, class studies, and spiritual guidance and counseling.

The women in the program range in age from 18 to 50 years old. The house was important to the ministry by allowing them to separate the women from the men in the ministry.

In August, a Hillsborough County Fire Inspector came to inspect the house and found some violations that needed to be addressed. They needed to install a very costly fire alarm system, and the windows were not up to code; they were 2 inches too small according to the Fire Marshal.

The Light House Gospel Mission never had a problem bringing the house up to fire code. They received bids in September, which were quite expensive. Since they are non-profit and run exclusively off donations, they asked the inspector for some extra time to make the necessary repairs.

The Fire Inspector said they could apply for an extension by writing their request to the Fire Marshal, which they filed on October 1, 2010.

To the shock of the Light House Gospel Mission, they never heard back from the Fire Marshal on their extension, until the first of the year when they were served with a cease and desist order. The order demanded the mission to close the house and move all the women out immediately.

With no notice, the Mission managed to relocate the 12 women into the facility that houses the Men's Faith Home, which currently has 36 men living there. This causes concern for the Mission because there is not a good separation between the men and women.

"Our purpose is to help people in need, and we do so thru private donors as we receive no Government assistance. This really put a strain on our ministry, and without adequate time to find a proper home, these women are co-mingled with the men of the mission; something we're not happy about" says Dr. Hank Furr, Pastor of the Light House Gospel Mission.

The mission will continue to bring the house up to fire code; however, even more stringent requirements since the first inspection have been added. The Fire Marshal and his action to immediately remove the women put all their lives and their recovery in jeopardy; not to mention a financial strain upon the ministry.

"I'm real surprised the Fire Marshal was unwilling to work with us while we brought the place up to code. It's not like the house was unsafe, since we had all the standard things like exit signs, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors" says Dr. Furr.

Dr. Hank Furr is available for interviews. Please contact him by calling (813) 677-5220

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