D.C. Councilman Marion Barry is admonishing a challenger to his Ward 8 seat for protesting a planned homeless shelter in Anacostia, calling her insensitive and characterizing her as a “Johnny-come-lately.”
Natalie Williams, who is one of several candidates running against Barry, has organized a protest rally for Thursday morning to “protest to the oversaturation of homeless shelters and social services that attract hundreds” from outside Ward 8.
Calvary Church is building a women’s shelter in Anacostia after operating a separate halfway house for 30 years. The local Advisory Neighborhood Commission opposes the shelter, but it’s being built as a matter of right and does not require city approval.
“Calvary is doing the Lord’s work,” Barry said in his release. “It is putting a 50 bed transition house on Good Hope Road for 50 single women, a third of whom are already working; the Calvary people intend to work vigorously to get jobs for the others. Anyone who opposes this transition house opposes 50 women trying to get their lives back together. Natalie Williams just recently moved into the Ward and knows very little about it.”
Williams’ protest is planned for 7 a.m. at 1217 Good Hope Road, Southeast.
