Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional details.
The U.S. Department of Justice moved to end efforts by the Brunswick city government to close a homeless day shelter operated by an organization that’s part of the United Methodist Church.
U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg filed a civil complaint Monday against the city of Brunswick in federal court seeking permanent relief for The Well, which offers shower and laundry facilities and other homeless services. The facility, located in a former Greyhound bus station, opened in 2015 on the edge of Brunswick’s historic downtown.
The Georgia coastal city filed a nuisance lawsuit against The Well’s operators, FaithWorks, in July 2023. The organization had temporarily closed the shelter for two months at the city’s request following a series of violent incidents in downtown Brunswick blamed on homeless residents, including one involving a frequent visitor to The Well.
Credit: Kailey Cota
Credit: Kailey Cota
The facility implemented new security protocols, requiring guests to register and submit to a warrant check, and reopened after 65 days, going against the wishes of city officials and prompting the suit. The city’s complaint against The Well, which calls for a renaming of the facility and a change in leadership, is still pending in Glynn County Superior Court.
In the DOJ’s civil complaint, Steinberg writes that “Brunswick’s efforts to permanently shut down The Well impose a significant burden” on the facility’s operators and asks the court to force the city to withdraw its complaint. The complaint also argues the city’s lawsuit infringes on FaithWorks’ practice of religious exercise as protected under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.
In a prepared statement, FaithWorks’ Wright Culpepper thanked the DOJ for filing its complaint and said it should bring “much needed” relief.
“The Superior Court lawsuit — though a temporarily stayed order of the court — created an additional cloud of uncertainty that delayed our ability to continue our services and respond more quickly to the needs of those in crisis,” Culpepper wrote.
Brunswick officials had not responded to an interview request at the time of publication.
The legal entanglements surrounding The Well have thrust the issue of homelessness in Brunswick into the public consciousness. The city’s downtown area has gentrified in recent years, attracting more affluent residents along with businesses that cater to them.
The Well is the largest homeless services provider in the city, serving about 60 visitors daily. Other area churches and nonprofits operate overnight shelters, although beds are limited, forcing many of The Well’s users to sleep outdoors.
Complaints about homeless camping in the area near The Well began to grow in 2022. According to reporting by The Brunswick News, City Manager Regina McDuffie estimated 40 people were sleeping on streets and in parks near the day shelter and were approaching downtown visitors to panhandle in the evenings.
The Brunswick Commission outlawed sleeping on the city’s streets and parks that October, nearly two years before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled anti-camping laws like Brunswick’s are legal.
Early in 2023, Brunswick Police investigated five incidents near downtown involving homeless residents. The violence included a stabbing, an armed robbery with a machete and an alleged rape of a minor. City officials voiced suspicions that the accused were connected to The Well and called for the temporary closure.
FaithWorks’ Culpepper acknowledged that one of the incidents, an armed theft of a bicycle, involved a regular client of The Well. Two others implicated were former users of the shelter but had been barred for violating facility rules years earlier, according to The Brunswick News.
Still, FaithWorks agreed to close The Well for 65 days. Following the announcement, a Savannah clergyman, the Rev. Leonard Small, leased a vacant church nearby to serve as a shelter. But the structure lacked running water and electricity, and Brunswick city officials boarded it up four days after The Well closed.
Undeterred, Small erected a tent in the church’s parking lot. Inclement weather destroyed that shelter soon thereafter but was replaced by open-air sheds. Small continued to add features, such as port-a-potties, to the encampment until it was closed by a judge’s order in November 2023.
The Well, meanwhile, returned to operation in late July 2023 and continues to serve homeless people. In his statement to the media released Tuesday, Culpepper vowed that FaithWorks would continue its mission.
“It is our greatest concern that many in our community are suffering without access to rest, safety, or protection from the elements, often vulnerable to exploitation,” he said. “We are committed to doing more to help those who need it most.”
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