After five years of partnering with the city, a Roanoke-area homeless service provider was recently cited by Roanoke city officials for alleged zoning violations.
The Least of These Ministry, or TLOT, was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic amid a surge in the number of unhoused people on the streets of Roanoke. In the five years since then, it's become a vital part of the patchwork of organizations providing services for the homeless.
The Least of These tends to serve individuals who are chronically homeless and unsheltered. These are people who won't go to the Rescue Mission to stay overnight, who during the warmer months camp in the woods, sleep on the sidewalk or live in their cars. They use TLOT's lockers and showers, and during the winter, will gather overnight in the facility's warming buses.
"The fact of the matter is, people can't just fold themselves up and put themselves in a drawer," says TLOT founder Dawn Sandoval. "They exist. They're human beings. So, they have to go to the bathroom. They have to exist somewhere. They have to be seen."
Sandoval says code inspectors came when the ministry first rolled out its warming buses in the winter of 2021. And she's not seen them since.
"Then, on the 25th of February, my staff was served with zoning violations stating we needed to cease the warming buses, take the lockers down off of our building and remove our port-a-potty," Sandoval says.
Mayor Joe Cobb says those violations were prompted by TLOT's neighbors.
"The primary reason this call came about is through concerns and complaints of neighboring businesses," Cobb says. "And those started maybe 18 months ago, related to the port-a-john, to the outdoor lockers, to the warming buses. And within the last probably six to eight months, that's become a more concerted effort by those local businesses, neighboring businesses, to raise concerns about TLOT."
Sandoval says the zoning citations took her by surprise.
"It did come out of the blue," Sandoval says. "But I was made aware a couple of months ago that the business owners were going to private meetings and meeting with City Council and doing all of these things, but no one came and dialoged with me."
The surprise was compounded because TLOT regularly works with the city. Police routinely send people to TLOT, and the city's Homeless Assistance Team sets up there twice a week to help deliver services.
In the meantime, the Mayor's Hope and Home Task Force is meeting regularly. Cobb says he expects the group to suggest policy recommendations to address issues like this. The Least of These Ministry is not represented on the board.
TLOT has appealed the zoning citations, and its hearing is set for May 13th.
