A halfway house that would provide temporary shelter for federal prison inmates in preparation for their release has been proposed for Fayetteville, eliciting concern from some community members.
The project, first proposed in 2020, was up in the air until a recent court ruling by the North Carolina Court of Appeals said plans could proceed.
Rafael Rivera, a community activist, isn’t giving up the fight against the proposed housing.
“I’m going to try my best to see what we can do,” he said to WRAL.
Rivera recently led a meeting to spread information about the situation. Some of the concerns raised at the meeting pertain to safety and property values, according to a report by The Fayetteville Observer. Other residents expressed concern about the process, saying that the builder didn’t provide evidence that property values wouldn’t decline.
Dismas Charities is the group behind the idea, and they picked a wooded site on Cain Road for the location of the halfway house. The group said that “residents living in the facility will have a chance to effectively transition back into society by leaving during the day to work,” according to The Fayetteville Observer.
At last week’s public meeting, some attendees asked about things like recidivism rates, while others said part of the reason released prisoners go back to crime is because they aren’t given a chance once they get back on the street.
The decision can still be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
