Plans to transform a vacant property on Peoria’s South Side into a mental health services and workforce programming facility for parolees will move forward.
After two previous deferrals, the Peoria City Council on Tuesday voted 6-5 in greenlighting the proposal from GRO Community that will turn the empty building at 1924 SW Adams Street into a 12-bedroom transitional residence for formerly incarcerated men.
“I would just like to reiterate that it’s not a ‘halfway house,’ that there is a very structured component to our program, and our goal is to help uplift residents of Peoria,” said GRO Community CEO Aaron Mallory.
“We’re not bringing people from Chicago to Peoria. This will be for the individuals who are currently on parole or engaged in a criminal justice system in Peoria. … Currently, our hope is to be to help those men and give them the support and guidance and assistance.”
The vote came after a two-hour discussion that took up the bulk of a more than 3½-hour meeting. Council member Mike Vespa said the conversation and an informational packet distributed at the meeting swayed him to vote in favor.
“I understand and appreciate nearby business owners’ concerns. I think anybody would have concerns, or most people would,” said Vespa. “We definitely should try to work with them and see if we can develop policies to help alleviate those concerns.
“But looking at this from the best interest of Peoria, these are people already in Peoria. Would we rather have them on the streets or around the previous bad influences? Or should we put them in a house where they can get the help they need?”
John Kelly was among those voting against the proposal, in part because he felt there wasn’t enough communication or information provided in advance.
“This makes me question the quality of this organization, not the quality of the mission,” said Kelly, who was joined in the slim minority by Alex Carmona, Denis Cyr, Zach Oyler and Kiran Velpula. “I think there were ample opportunities for them to communicate with us. They didn’t.
“What does that mean about how they’re going to manage this business or this facility in the future? I am not confident about that.”
While Mallory sought to clarify the terminology used in reference to the facility, Assistant Community Development Director Leah Allison explained to the council that the phrasing fit under the city’s development code.
“We work with what we currently have, and that was the best fit for the use that they are proposing,” she said. “Now, they are proposing additional services, and that’s acceptable under the terminology of ‘halfway house.’ But in our unified development code, that definition fits best.”
Mallory said GRO Community needed the city’s special use approval in order to finalize an approved grant of $475,000 from the Illinois Housing Development Authority to complete their $207,500 purchase of the property.
He said beyond the purchase, they anticipate spending at least $250,000 and as much as $1 million to renovate the building. No city funds are a part of the project.
Jeanine Wester, who co-owns Peoria Architectural Salvage at 2000 SW Adams with her husband Tom, was one of three local residents who were called up to voice their concerns about the GRO Community project.
“I really, actually do think that GRO has some awesome ideas. I love the clarifications you guys have proposed and provided tonight,” said Wester. “It is still my personal opinion that the immediate Adams frontage should remain commercial; it just seems to kind of lend itself more to commercial and retail spaces.”
But Pastor Sam Russell of New Testament Fellowship Church urged the city to resist any “not in my back yard” sentiments and take action to help formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into society.
“They need your help. They need your forgiveness, they need your consideration to take their past and really put it behind them,” said Russell. “Because if you don’t support them in that effort, they’re going to fall flat on their face again, and you will find them back in the same mess they came out of.”
Mallory said the individuals chosen to stay at the facility would need to be accepted into GRO’s workforce and housing programs, and that sex offenders would not be eligible.
“When we think about a halfway house, they don’t pay rent. These guys are paying rent,” he said. “But for them to qualify for that, they have to meet the metrics as outlined in that scope of our program to even be able to get the opportunity to be in the housing.”
Mayor Rita Ali said she was supportive and optimistic about GRO’s ambitions, but offered a word of caution.
“We’re counting on your success, but I want to put you on notice that you’re going to be under scrutiny,” said Ali. “You’re going to be under scrutiny by this community, by the leadership, by the businesses that spoke out today, by other residents that may have some interface with that population that resides there.
“There’s no perfect organization where nothing goes wrong, where you don’t make any mistakes. But it’s to your advantage to make sure that everything goes as well as possible in terms of how you deliver your program and services.”
