Despite opposition from a neighbor and two city council members, a church-run halfway house that helps former inmates transition back into the community will continue operating in Marietta.
The Harmony House program, a program for men who have recently been released from the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, received a indefinite extension of its special land use permit to operate at 460 and 462 Birney Street.
The program run by Turner Hill Community Development Corporation, an arm of Turner Hill AME Church, launched in 2006 and has served 314 former inmates, said Vince Green, program director of Harmony House. Cobb County tax assessor records show the church has owned the duplex-style home since 2004. The duplex is in a neighborhood of small homes and across the street from Birney Street Park, a 1.5-acre park with a playground, benches and a multi-purpose field.
The Harmony House program can only house five men at any given time. It is open to men who have served time at the Cobb jail for non-violent offenses, Green said. Clients spend 90 days going through the program designed to help them obtain employment and steer them from the influences that led them to fall “on some sort of alternative way of living,” Green said.
“They just lost their way along the way,” he said.
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Marietta City Council members on Feb. 12 voted 4-2 to approve the extension of the special land use permit for the church to operate the program at residence. Councilmen Johnny Walker and Andy Morris voted against the proposal. Walker said he voted against the request because he preferred to see a time limit on how long the permit could be in place before it would have to come back to the city for possible renewal.
“I was trying to look out (for the people) in that area,” he said. “I think they do good things, but some people don’t want a business like that in their neighborhood.”
A woman who owns property on Birney Street praised the church’s program, but expressed concern about its impact on property values in the area.
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Another resident, Don Barth, told the City Council he would not want a program like the Harmony House in his neighborhood.
“It’s a great thing, but there got to be bigger pieces of property,” he added.
Green told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that none of the clients have had any trouble with neighbors since the program has been in place. He said the program is viewed as a service to the community since it helps former jail inmates who may not have the structure in place to resume a life without trouble.
“The best thing we do is get them directly into a safe living space as soon as they leave the jail,” he said.
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