TOPEKA (KSNT) - One local church in Topeka is working hard to restart its homeless ministry after finding out it's outreach violated city code.
Open Arms Outreach Ministries helps people in need get back on their feet with food, clothing and even shelter. But after finding out it was violating several city safety codes, it's had to turn people away.
The Topeka Fire Department (TFD) informed the church in October of its violation of 17 codes. Since that visit, the church has been unable to house anyone overnight.
"That Tuesday they came out and told us that the men had to leave," said the church's administrator Tina Carter. "And I think that was really heartbreaking for us, and for them, because this is where they call home."
However, the church has been working hard to get up to date with city ordinances.
"There were things that we had to clean up and clean out and make sure we got everything up to code," Carter said. "It's been a vary tedious process. We've been working tirelessly on this."
Making sure the church is compliant with all city code is a costly project. Pastor Sam Mitchel has been funding a majority of the upgrades from his 401k account. However, Carter sees this challenging time for the church as a blessing, not a financial burden.
"We want to be code compliant," Carter said. "So that's a good thing. The best thing to come out of it was that we were made aware, and we are able to now make sure the church is operating the way we need to operate."
With the holiday season right around the corner, Carter has just one thing on her Christmas list this year.
"If we could get the men their housing back, that would be the best Christmas gift ever," Carter said.
27 News reached out to the City of Topeka for comment on the situation.
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