Instead of going home after a long night at a Dec. 10 Fort Worth City Council meeting that gave Mercy Culture Church the green light to build a shelter for human trafficking survivors, lead pastors Landon and Heather Schott went to church.
More specifically, the couple visited the fire pit they anticipate will be part of the altar in the chapel of The Justice Residences. The Justice Reform, a nonprofit and 鈥渉oused vision鈥� of the church, plans to build 100 beds for survivors on the church鈥檚 property northeast of downtown, just off Interstate 35W.
Now, five months later, the Schotts revisited the site alongside hundreds of congregants, county leaders and attendees for the shelter鈥檚 May 9 groundbreaking ceremony. The pair serve as public faces of the Fort Worth-based megachurch, which for its .
鈥淭oday we shift the future,鈥� Heather Schott told attendees. 鈥淭oday is the beginning of building a house of redemption that reforms the way we restore women out of sex trafficking.鈥�
Over 350 religious, city and county leaders gathered at the north end of Mercy Culture Church鈥檚 campus for the groundbreaking of The Justice Residences 鈥� a project long anticipated by congregants and opposed by hundreds of neighbors in northeast Fort Worth.
Since 2022, church leadership and Oakhurst residents have been over iterations of the proposed building and have voiced concerns about the safety of the project, increased parking problems and suitability of the location for a high-security restoration home.
The shelter will be two stories tall with a split-level basement. One level is to include the dining hall, exercise room, business offices, a kitchen and storage rooms. Each of the two levels above are planned to have gathering rooms, storage and sleeping spaces for 100 beds. A chapel would be located on the first floor, according to site plan documents.
One hundred beds isn鈥檛 enough to fight human trafficking, Heather Schott told the Fort Worth Report.
The Justice Residences construction in Fort Worth serves as the starting point for building more across Texas in cities like San Antonio and Austin, with the nonprofit set on establishing shelters in every state across the U.S.
鈥淲e may build them across Texas first and then into the nation or at the same time,鈥� Heather Schott said. 鈥淲e have a million slaves in just our nation in America, and so we really have to build them everywhere and begin to heal and bring the solution to end human trafficking.鈥�
City, county leaders voice support
Tarrant County Judge Tim O鈥橦are told attendees Friday afternoon that he feels 鈥渢here is a revival, a reform going on not just in America, not just in Texas, but right here in Fort Worth, right here in Tarrant County.鈥�
He shared how hundreds of Christians gathered with him last week for the second annual , of which The Justice Reform was a beneficiary.
He also nodded to a measure passed by Tarrant County commissioners in April that will allow a donated Ten Commandments monument to be placed on county grounds. The monument is expected to arrive in September, O鈥橦are told the audience.
There are a lot of landmarks in Tarrant County, and The Justice Residences will become one of them, O鈥橦are said.
鈥淭he Justice Residence is going to make history as the first long-term care center of its kind for human trafficking survivors, and that is something to celebrate,鈥� O鈥橦are said. 鈥淭o God be the glory.鈥�
The Tarrant County Human Trafficking Task Force, made up of local, state and federal law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations, is 鈥渃losing in on 1,000 rescues鈥� since its founding in 2017, said county Sheriff Bill Waybourn. But, 鈥渋t鈥檚 merely a handoff鈥� to faith groups like The Justice Reform, he added.
鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 the church that is the solution, not the government,鈥� Waybourn said to the audience. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get out of the way. We do not have the resources or the capability to do what you鈥檙e going to do here.鈥�
Also in attendance was Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens and Mercy Culture Church apostolic elder Michael Brown. Brown has been at the forefront of dueling reports on sexual misconduct allegations, according to . Leaders of Mercy Culture recently said they will 鈥渟tand with鈥� Brown, joining a group of religious leaders publicly rejecting a recent third-party investigation concluding that Brown engaged in 鈥渟exually abusive misconduct鈥� in the early 2000s.
Heather Schott to be a 鈥榮piritual mother鈥� to survivors, leaders say
Helping survivors of human trafficking is personal for Heather Schott, her husband Landon Schott said.
He took to the stage Friday afternoon to share Heather鈥檚 story as a 鈥渢eenage drug addict, alcoholic (who) overdosed on OxyContin and was left in an abandoned apartment to die鈥� in the suburbs of Seattle.
鈥淚 thought, how wild is it when you are left in an apartment to die, you are building a residence for girls to live,鈥� Landon Schott said.
Leaders of Mercy Culture gifted Heather a gold-plated shovel and described her as a 鈥渟piritual mother鈥� to congregants and survivors in the soon-to-be shelter.
鈥淗eather, you are a spiritual mother to all the daughters that are going to cross into that room. They are going to see not just a founder, but they are going to see a spiritual mother who has warred for them, who has tried for them, who has fought for them,鈥� said Chuck Reyes, director of The Justice Residences.
Construction for The Justice Residences is set to begin next week, with an estimated 15-18 month build time, Heather Schott told the Report.
She invites Oakhurst residents and others who didn鈥檛 attend to 鈥渏oin the fight against any human trafficking.鈥�
鈥淚 know how dark it can be when you feel like you can鈥檛 get out. I was fortunate enough, blessed enough, that I got pulled out,鈥� Heather Schott told the Report. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a driving fuel in my life that if Jesus set me free, if he brought me out of darkness and bondage, then I can鈥檛 live my life not giving it to do the same for others.鈥�
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .
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