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SUNDAY'S CHILD
Sunday's Child "Christopher" 2/7/10
Just in time for the Winter Olympics, CBS 7’s Tatum Hubbard hit the ice with a very athletic 15-year-old for a little "speed skating."
Just in time for the Winter Olympics, CBS 7’s Tatum Hubbard hit the ice with a very athletic 15-year-old for a little "speed skating."
Ector Co. Sheriff Responds to Concerns About Goldsmith Shelter 10/20/09
Beau Berman
CBS 7 News
bberman@cbs7.com
October 20, 2009
Goldsmith, Texas - The Ector County Sheriff is meeting with residents in Goldsmith, responding to concerns about a homeless shelter that’s creating controversy.
Several Goldsmith residents told Sheriff Donaldson directly how they’re worried about the mentally disabled and recovering alcoholics inside “The Pearl House”.
A growing group of Goldsmith residents are fed up with The Pearl House, evident by the forty-some who showed up at tonight's neighborhood watch meeting, compared to the normal five or six.
"The biggest concerns people have been calling about are the safety. Health issues: if there's anyone in there to give medications", says City Secretary, Vickie Emfinger.
Emfinger joined Vickie Hodges, who we spoke with last week, and dozens of others in raising their concerns to Ector Co. Sheriff, Mark Donaldson.
"I definitely think they're justified in what's going on (raising complaints) because of the complaints and what I saw on TV", says Sheriff Donaldson.
Residents told the Sheriff the Pearl House is an unfit living environment, that kids are living among recovering drug addicts and that the mentally disabled are walking the streets, swearing and even entering their homes in the middle of the night.
"That scares my kids. My son watches the guys griping and cussing the fence post. I don't want my kids around it. I don't know what's over there", says Goldsmith resident, Tracie Grooms.
Emmitt Beasley, the founder of Pearl House and director of Big Blue Circle Ministries, says the shelter is a fine place to live and safe for his residents and the community.
Beasley denies that open doors and a lack of staffing are a problem. But others in the Goldsmith community disagree.
"In one day's time I had 46 phone calls about this", says Emfinger.
While tonight's crowd urged they don't want to run the Pearl House out of town, Sheriff Donaldson told them that could happen if it's investigated further. Vickie Hodges and others, said they’d do what it takes for everyone's safety - something Sheriff Donaldson acknowledged as justified.
"The people out here in Goldsmith want to make sure that those people that are staying out at that place are safe and secure. CPS, the State Fire Marshall's office, the health department, Adult Protective Services, those four agencies are the ones I'll try to get a hold of", says Sheriff Donaldson.
We spoke with Emmitt Beasley this afternoon by phone.
He maintains that the shelter is a good place to live and that he’s helping everyone inside.
Mr. Beasley, who lives in the shelter in Goldsmith, was aware of tonight’s meeting but tells us he chose to not attend.
