Property owner balks on homeless shelter project

by Associated Press

Published: January 26,2012

Tags: commercial property, health, healthcare, homeless, hospitals, mediciane, property, shelter

VICKSBURG — Plans for a transitional shelter for homeless people near the former ParkView Regional Medical Center have been scrapped.

But planners tell the Vicksburg Post they will look for another site.

Owners of the property where the former medical complex sits “weren’t interested in making it available for it anymore,” said Tina Hayward, executive director of Mountain of Faith Ministries.

“It’s kind of a shock to us,” Hayward said.

Hayward declined to specify where the organization would take its plans.

“We have not gotten it all complete yet … but it’s very, very important,” she said.

The Mountain of Faith Ministeries proposed a center in the old Sisters of Mercy convent behind the former hospital where up to 24 people would spend two years learning life skills and financial planning after they’ve emerged from an emergency shelter.

The building was purchased in 2005 from River Region Health System by River Hill Investments, LLC, a Brandon-based firm.

The nonprofit had sought an exception from the city to how the 16.2-acre complex is zoned.

A request to take up the matter was pending before the Vicksburg Board of Zoning Appeals.

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