Church Homeless 'Shelter' Won't Be Shut Down
Philadelphia city officials now say they will not shut down a Kensington church that was served with a cease and desist order for running an unlicensed homeless shelter.
KYW's Margie Smith reports city inspectors visited The Hope Outreach United Church of Christ and found no cots, mats or any other evidence that anyone had been sleeping there.
"Based on our visual inspection, we didn't see any signs of a rooming house or dormitory."
Licenses and Inspections commissioner Fran Burns says the city most likely will inspect the church again.:
"If we get any complaints or service requests to be back out, we're going to be responsive to that."
The church had been sheltering about two dozen homeless men but the city ordered that operation shutdown because of safety concerns.
Church leaders responded by starting overnight vigils allowing the men to stay in the pews and pray all night.
