Every Sunday, more than 1,000 congregants flood into the Oakhurst area. The sprawling campus, dominated by large white buildings, attracts people from across Fort Worth. Primarily a place of worship, the church wants another use for its property 鈥� sheltering survivors of sex trafficking.
After launching the church with her husband in , Mercy Culture Pastor Heather Schott started a nonprofit called in 2020 with the goal of ending sex trafficking in the region. Last October, the organization hosted its inaugural , a music festival and charity race aimed at raising funds to support survivors.
Organizers pressed ahead on plans to create a three-story, 100 bed restoration home until neighbors, who question the safety and legitimacy of the project, mounted a strong opposition against the shelter.
Developers for the project were expected to present it in front of the April 13. City staff previously recommended denial of the project, arguing the land is not suitable for the use requested and that the restoration home is not consistent with the area鈥檚 comprehensive plan.
As opposition from neighbors continued to grow, The Justice Reform withdrew its application April 8 to the zoning commission. The organization would like additional time to speak with residents and gather information before finalizing the project, said Cameron Ehn, the civil engineer on the project.
Chanin Scanlon, president of the , suspects Justice Reform leaders are regrouping before pushing forward with their plans. Her group will continue to fight the project, Scanlon said, and plans to attend the April 13 meeting to ensure there will be opposition if the case is discussed. The project was still listed on the meeting鈥檚 agenda as of Friday.
鈥淥ne of the council members recently kind of warned somebody about that and said, 鈥楿ntil a decision has been made, you need to be here,鈥欌�� Scanlon said.
鈥淚 think they鈥檙e just trying to regroup and try to say face and then continue to do it,鈥� Scanlon said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l just continue to fight.鈥�
The proposed 13-acre development in the far north corner of the church鈥檚 property would function as long-term housing for survivors. The development would cut into a tree line and hill that separates Mercy Culture鈥檚 property from the historic Oakhurst neighborhood, located just northeast of downtown Fort Worth.
Residents of Oakhurst have expressed concerns about the safety of the project, increased parking problems and suitability of the location for a high-security restoration home.
鈥淚t has nothing to do with their religion or their practices or their beliefs,鈥� Scanlon said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not even an issue of whether we even want them to do this or not; it has nothing to do with that. It is purely a location issue. That is a bad location for their victims. I don鈥檛 care what they say.鈥�
Schott, who spoke with the Report prior to the application being withdrawn, said The Justice Residences are an essential part of her calling as a Christian. Her concern for human trafficking is borne out of her belief that the church is called to reach out to people who are hurting and broken.
鈥淎 lot of these girls have been abused in the most horrific ways, and they have been brainwashed,鈥� Schott said. 鈥淲hat is so special about church is it restores people鈥檚 hope and faith and it鈥檚 in something that鈥檚 greater than humanity. It鈥檚 in the Lord.鈥�
Residents raise concerns about parking
Scanlon first heard about the project from then-mayoral candidate , a real estate agent and . Scanlon remembers telling Penate that Oakhurst residents were going to want to learn more about the project.
A packed informational meeting, held on the Mercy Culture campus on March 31, affirmed her assumption. Residents expressed concerns about the parking and safety issues the development could pose to the neighborhood.
On Sundays, Scanlon said, churchgoers often park illegally in no-parking zones, fire zones and in green spaces on residential properties and urban parkland on Oakhurst Scenic Drive, which runs alongside Interstate 35.
Schott responded that the church would not lose any parking spots because of The Justice Residences.
The church runs a weekly out of church property. Traffic is five times worse on those days compared to Sundays, Mark Taylor, food bank director, said. Church leadership said it hadn鈥檛 heard any complaints from neighbors about traffic issues before the zoning conflict.
Some parking spots will be lost because of the development, , the civil engineer of the project, said. While the building itself will not occupy any spaces currently used for parking, the designated parking for staff at the facility will include spaces currently used for church parking.
鈥淭hose (spots) will be behind the gate, and you won鈥檛 be able to access those, so you are losing the use of those spaces for churchgoers,鈥� Ehn said.
Developers will be able to lessen some of those parking losses by re-striping areas of the parking lot not already used for parking, Ehn said. A shed on the church property will also be removed to be used for additional parking spaces.
鈥淭he number of spaces available is still significantly over the required amount of parking spaces for our site,鈥� he said.
Neighbors, church disagree on potential danger posed by project
Neighbors also have safety concerns, for both the women who might reside in the facility and the surrounding community.
The property sits next to Interstate 35 West, which stretches from Kansas to the southern border of Texas. Scanlon pointed to a truck stop and hotel near Mercy Culture that could be avenues for the women to be trafficked again.
鈥淭he location is not good for this. They need quiet retreat outside of the hustle and bustle of the city,鈥� Scanlon said.
Schott, founder of the Justice Reform, said these concerns are not legitimate. Traffickers are likely to be less intimidated by a restoration home that is inconspicuous or in a remote location. In her experience. The most models are out in the open, she said.
鈥淪o what do they think? That if a girl is 20 miles north that she can鈥檛 go back into trafficking?鈥� Schott asked.
Women who want to leave the property will have a police escort, Schott said. She added that this concern is not unique to Mercy Culture since many restoration home locations she has studied are surrounded by hotels and truck stops.
鈥淪he鈥檚 not just going to be walking off of our property,鈥� Schott said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚, again, why there鈥檚 not legitimacy to their question. They have these fabricated ideas of a guy pulling up and pulling girls out or a girl just walking off the premises and into their yard.鈥�
Taylor, Mercy Culture鈥檚 food bank director, said whether a restoration home is in isolation or not will not be the deciding factor forfor whether someone will go back into the world of sex trafficking. No matter where survivors are, what matters most is their commitment to a new life.
鈥淚f they aren鈥檛 willing to put a stake in the ground and say, 鈥業鈥檓 not going back,鈥� you can鈥檛 stop them from going back鈥� to that world,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care where you are.鈥�
The residence, which will be three stories tall, will be equipped with a fence, 24/7 security and security cameras around the residence and property, Schott said.
鈥淒o you think if you鈥檙e a trafficker you鈥檙e walking up into a place like this?鈥� Schott asked the crowd at the March 31 informational meeting. 鈥淵ou might as well turn yourself in.鈥�
Neighbors are not convinced. A majority of residents and members of the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association voted against the development. In total, 18 of 266 residents who participated in the vote were in favor of the Justice Reform project. The rest voted against the project.
鈥淚 think that they鈥檙e deluding themselves if they think that that鈥檚 not going to be a security risk for those students (of nearby ), and or a security risk for the kids to play in our neighborhood or down in Riverside Park,鈥� Scanlon said.
The neighborhood faces struggles with crime, said , Oakhurst resident and assistant prosecutor with the Tarrant County District Attorney鈥檚 Office. She鈥檚 concerned that the residences will pull police resources away from the neighborhood and drive crime numbers up.
鈥淭here鈥檚 crazy stuff happening鈥� on the outskirts of Oakhurst,鈥� Simpson said.
Schott argued that the organization had already outlined multiple measures to ensure security on the property.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 a legitimate concern,鈥� Schott said. 鈥淚 think that it doesn鈥檛 matter what I say, I gave a very thorough presentation on what all their concerns were previously鈥� And then they find more things to keep arguing about.鈥�
Law enforcement offers verbal support
During the public meeting, Schott said the residences would be in partnership with the as well as the and the Department of Homeland Security, both of which have units dedicated to investigating human trafficking.
Later, in a conversation with the Report, Schott clarified that the partnership she was referencing isn鈥檛 a formal agreement with law enforcement but the general support for the project from the Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Department and Fort Worth Police Department. However, off-duty police officers help direct traffic on Sundays, and she said officers are often close by through their normal beat coverage.
鈥淭he sheriff has supported us very heavily from the very beginning,鈥� Schott said.
The Fort Worth Police Department said they do not have a formal agreement with the church to conduct drive-throughs or provide security.
鈥淲hile we are not in a partnership with Mercy Culture Church, a member of the Fort Worth Police Department鈥檚 Human Trafficking Unit did participate in a joint jurisdiction human trafficking presentation at Mercy Culture Church approximately one year ago,鈥� the department said in a statement.
Schott confirmed that members of sex trafficking task force on the city and county level have educated church members about human trafficking in informational sessions.
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn has been a vocal supporter of The Justice Residences. At the March 3 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the proopsed restoration home, Waybourn addressed the crowd and described a for human trafficking services in Tarrant County.
鈥淭his county has been starving for this,鈥� Waybourn said. 鈥淎s long as God keeps me in this appointed position, I will be here for your church.鈥�
Waybourn鈥檚 individual support for the residences does not equate to material support from the sheriff鈥檚 office to the church. Although the sheriff鈥檚 department supports the mission of the organization, the groups are not connected, said department spokeswoman Jennifer Gabbert.
鈥淭he sheriff鈥檚 office is not involved in that project,鈥� Gabbert said.
Along with a consistent police and hired security presence, buy-in from the community could help promote the security of the facility, Schott said. If neighbors were willing to remain vigilant, the residence could become fully enmeshed in the community and further deter traffickers from the property.
鈥淭his is why we鈥檙e really disappointed in how Oakhurst is responding,鈥� Schott said. 鈥淏ut 鈥� we still want to have hope that people are going to turn their hearts.鈥�
Residents said they don鈥檛 feel the church is open to meaningful communication about the proposed project.
鈥�(Schott) has posted on her as well that she鈥檚 not planning on giving us an inch,鈥� Scanlon said.
Church seeks to fill hole in local resources
In Tarrant County, several organizations provide services for sex trafficking survivors, but none provides the sort of long-term community housing Mercy Culture envisions. Among the current organizations in the area are and . Unbound provides a for victims, but it鈥檚 reserved for those 22 years of age or younger and doesn鈥檛 function as long-term housing.
In recent years, Fort Worth has funneled resources toward initiatives aimed at stopping trafficking. One of those initiatives is the , organized by the Fort Worth Police Department. It works to gather various government entities and community organizations together to end the sex trafficking of minors.
Felicia Grantham, the department and task force鈥檚 human trafficking coordinator, said both entities are trying to remain neutral on the topic.
鈥淥ur goal is to have agencies and organizations from the community feel welcome to come and collaborate, learn from each other and basically meet together and network together on a regular basis,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o we want to leave that door open for them.鈥�
Regular attendees include Unbound, , the Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Office and the Fort Worth City Credit Union. Several churches, including and , are also involved.
Grantham said Justice Reform leaders had been invited to attend the task force鈥檚 monthly meetings, but she didn鈥檛 believe they had attended one yet. Schott said that, because of the nonprofit鈥檚 limited staff, it could not have a staff member at every task force meeting.
鈥淲e are still a fairly new organization ourselves in the city,鈥� Schott said. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 a lot of relationships all around, you know, from our governor鈥檚 office to task force meetings to everybody. So we haven鈥檛 reached out in every area in building those relationships.鈥�
Zoning commission decision pushed back multiple times
The zoning change application request was first submitted to the city in January. Winter weather got the better of an initial plan for church leaders and neighborhood residents to meet and discuss the plan, necessitating a 30-day extension to March 9.
When the day came, however, the architect overseeing the zoning application told commissioners that winter weather had again postponed the scheduled meeting. Another 30-day continuance was issued, placing the next public hearing on the matter April 13.
Now that the application is withdrawn, the Justice Reform will have to reapply with updated plans.
In the March meeting, commissioner Wanda Conlin expressed concern that approving plans for a restoration home in the area without securing a conditional use permit would violate zoning regulations.
A is a zoning tool that allows an owner to use property in a way not otherwise allowed within the current zoning district. According to , conditional use permits are a possible solution to adding a single use to an existing planned development.
Under the terms of the conditional use permit, City Council members could set an expiration date or revoke the permit 鈥渇or poor behavior or operation, inaction, or discontinuance of use,鈥� according to a city.
Currently, the church鈥檚 property is zoned as a planned development district specifically for religious purposes. The application is asking for an additional use on the property to allow the restoration home鈥檚 construction and use, but does not ask for a conditional use permit.
Conlin said a continuance would waste the zoning commission鈥檚 time if the change requires an entirely new permit.
鈥淥ver and over again, the applicant has told us this is a shelter,鈥� Conlin said.
City staff said that because of the way the current planned development is structured, it would be possible to amend it to include group homes.
Pastor calls opponents 鈥榚vil鈥� as tensions rise
When neighbors and Mercy Culture leaders finally met, it was in a packed meeting room on Mercy Culture鈥檚 campus filled with about 100 audience members.
Schott, alongside her husband and , led the hour-long meeting that explained the need for restoration homes devoted to sex trafficking victims. When residents arrived at the meeting, Mercy Culture staff urged them to write their questions on pieces of paper that were then delivered to Schott at the end of the meeting. She spent 15 minutes answering questions, which frustrated Scanlon.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a communication. It was a sermon. It was a lecture,鈥� Scanlon said. 鈥淭hey blatantly avoided our questions, and then they told us to get out.鈥�
Neighbors also accused the church of refusing to answer questions they submitted. Before ending the meeting, Landon Schott explained some of the questions were removed because they were duplicates, already addressed or 鈥渘ot appropriate for this time.鈥�
Heather Schott pushed back on accusations of not answering resident questions.
鈥淭he meeting was derailed because people started getting accusatory,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he accusation became, 鈥楾hey handpicked all these notes and refused to answer questions,鈥� when I just gave an hour presentation.鈥�
The relationship between residents and the church has grown more contentious since the meeting.
In , Landon Schott wrote that if anyone is resisting helping 鈥渢he most abused victims in our community, it鈥檚 only because they鈥檙e EVIL!鈥� Heather Schott said she has received threats from opponents of the project. Scanlon said Mercy Culture representatives are also behind the rising tensions.
鈥淭he more that we tend to fight it, the more verbally aggressive they get,鈥� Scanlon said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of vitriol coming out of there.鈥�
If neighbors are willing to put aside their anger, The Justice Reform staff would be happy to set up calls and meetings with concerned residents, Schott said.
Scanlon has been encouraged by support from neighbors and the Riverside Alliance, a group of neighborhoods in east Fort Worth that includes Oakhurst. The group has a history of within the alliance.
Rick Herring, the moderator of the Riverside Alliance, and other residents plan to argue against the development to the zoning commission Wednesday.
A Justice Reform employee, Vanessa Hector, Schott鈥檚 personal assistant, confirmed The Justice Reform withdrew its application but provided no further comment. Justice Reform continues to fundraise for the residences, with plans to five days after the April 13 zoning hearing.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that they have ever intended on really communicating with the neighborhood in any way,鈥� Scanlon said.
From Heather Schott鈥檚 perspective, communication has stalled for a different reason:
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 going to have an answer that pleases them.鈥�
