After several months of debate from local leaders and residents, including the support of two Marion County judges in charge of DUI court on Tuesday night, the Ocala City Council voted 3 to 1 to rezone a church’s property in southeast Ocala to create a sober living facility for women on part of the campus.
On Tuesday, councilmembers voted to approve a request to rezone the church at 1712 Lake Weir Avenue from institutional (INST) to limited community business (B-2A) to create a second Open Arms Village (OAV), a local sober living program. The new facility will share the property with the current congregation, which regularly holds service at the site in southeast Ocala.
During Tuesday night’s council meeting, several local residents shared their opinions about the planned facility, which will provide the same services to women that Open Arms Village has provided to men for a decade.
Among the many who shared opinions in favor of the facility were Judge Lori Cotton and Judge Steve G. Rogers of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court for Marion County.
Both judges, who are involved with drug and alcohol diversion programs, praised Open Arms Village, citing its high barrier to entry (1 in 7 applicants is accepted) and high graduation rate (76% of the individuals finish the program).
Cotton, who presides over driving under the influence (DUI) court and recently took over drug treatment court, said there was a huge need for sober living services in the community. She said Open Arms Village was different because its residents had to be “highly motivated” to make it through the program.
Cotton said that in talking to individuals who passed through DUI court, she is frequently told that they wish something like Open Arms Village had “come along sooner.”
Cotton used to live in the neighborhood where the planned facility will be and said she met her husband volunteering at the church. She said the facility wasn’t bringing addiction into the area, but rather, treating those already living in this community with addiction.
Rogers, who presides over the county’s felony drug diversion program, said that as a prosecutor, he longed for the days when the county would offer programs like the one at Open Arms Village. The judge says there are “way more sober living homes” in the community than most would believe, citing many that are unofficial and hiding “under the radar.”
“Open Arms Village is the gold standard when it comes to sober living communities,” said Rogers.
Multiple graduates of Open Arms Village, and several local residents who have battled addiction also took the opportunity on Tuesday to share their testimonies of the program.
One of them, Jason Jobe, suggested that programs like Open Arms Village save lives, citing his own battle with alcohol abuse and his mother’s death. He questioned how many women have died because of the months that the debate has persisted, saying his mother lost her battle years ago because she never had a similar alternative.
“I don’t know, I can’t help but think, if there was a facility like this for her to go to, because I’m sure there was a point that she was willing, and she had a desperation. But she went right back to the stuff that she knew. Because she had no other option. And today, she doesn’t get to hold her grand baby,” said Jobe, referring to generational impact that alcoholism can have on a family.
“We have the opportunity tonight to make ripples for good, for love, and for joy, for generations to come. And saying ‘yes’ to this, is saying ‘yes’ to life and love,” said Jobe.
Nick Covington, a graduate of the Open Arms Program, said he could not express his gratitude enough for the program, saying he’s never seen the “amount of lives changed that this group” has impacted.
Since its inception a decade ago, the facility has seen nearly 500 men pass through its doors, with 76% of them successfully completing the program. The remaining men are not just left behind, according to Davieoyn Hopson, the Director of Behavioral Health for Open Arms Village, but rather, are connected with other resources in the community.
“It’s not just Open Arms,” said Hopson.
During the ensuing discussion by the council, members cited the success rate of Open Arms Village, the need for more sober living in the community, and their faith in the church and God as some of their reasons behind supporting the new facility.
Councilman Jim Hilty said he has three grandchildren who live in close proximity to the planned facility and that even though he was originally against Open Arms Village’s chosen location over a decade ago, he had “faith in God” that this would be the right place.
Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano said he was focused on the lives that would be saved at the facility. The mayor, who operates a local fitness chain, said that some of his best employees have come out of the Open Arms Village program.
Councilman Jay Musleh commended the graduates of the program who spoke on Tuesday, saying they presented themselves with “eloquence” and that they were “outstanding.” He also pointed to the success rate of the program and said that, from a zoning perspective, the city didn’t haver much grounds to not give them the appropriate zoning given the church’s location on a busy thoroughfare.
Coucilman Ire Bethea agreed with this fellow councilmen.
“I truly think it’s somewhat ideal because of where it sits,” said Bethea. The councilman said it was important that these types of programs be approved in locations where the participants will have access to transportation and food sources, things provided by Open Arms Village. He also echoed Judge Roger’s sentiment regarding these facilities already existing in local communities.
“Believe it or not, you don’t know who stay next door to you. And as the judge said, and I know this for a fact, I’ve been around for a while, involved in different organizations; there are transitional housing in some of your neighborhoods and you don’t know it,” said Bethea.
The lone dissenting vote was put forth by council president Kristen Dreyer, as councilman Barry Mansfield was not in attendance.
Dreyer said she had no concern with Open Arms Village “in and of themselves,” but that she was speaking “for the every day man” who knows what it’s like to live in a similar situation, citing her experience moving next to a halfway house in Tuscawilla Park.
“I live in Tuscawilla Park, this is not a secret. I talk about this all the time. I, when I bought my house there, all of my church-going friends said ‘Are you crazy, do you know who lives there,'” said Dreyer. “And I said absolutely, but Jesus didn’t say just help the people who look like you.”
The council president said the “difference” in her situation is that she knew what she was moving into.
“I knew what I was moving to, so when the halfway house was across the street from me, I chose that for myself,” said Dreyer.
“Because I have experienced this, I know what it’s like. Again, I think two things can be true: I can support the Open Arms Village, but not support the location,” said Dreyer, before referring to the two speakers who spoke in opposition to the proposed facility.
“I’m speaking for the everyday man, because I know what it’s like to live there. B-2A Community Rezoning is for a community business, this is not for the community at large to go to and experience. The church has a zoning and a land use that are appropriate for what it has,” said Dreyer, saying she would support a special use permit request, but not a rezoning.
“Because we know that there are bad actors, when Open Arms Village decides that they’re going to move on, God forbid, if it becomes somebody else, we have now just invited something to the neighborhood that they did not ask for. So because of that, I am a ‘no’ vote on this,” said Dreyer.
The new facility will be built within the church, which is currently being used now by Compassion United Methodist Church for Sunday worship services, daily recovery meetings, and other church activities. The property is owned by the Board of Trustees of the FL Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The planned expansion calls for 16 beds and daily sober living services similar to those offered at the first OAV program established at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church (1839 NE 8th Road) a decade ago.
While the original program is exclusively for men, the new program would provide mental health and substance abuse counseling to women, subjecting them to a rigorous screening process and background check, as well as drug tests throughout their stay.
