Minister Brings Shelter for Homeless Up to Code

The long and loud battle over a Buena Park pastor’s homeless shelter has ended quietly. The minister, city officials and neighbors say they are satisfied, at least for now, with a prefabricated building that can house a few dozen homeless people.

The Rev. Wiley Drake had set off an uproar in 1996 by taking in the homeless at his First Southern Baptist Church on Western Avenue. Neighbors complained of transients loitering and hooting at passing women, and city inspectors cited Drake for violating building codes.

But ending three years of political and legal wrestling, Drake quietly won final city approval June 1 for a shelter adjacent to his church by installing sprinklers, a fire alarm and other necessities for the 3,600-square-foot building where up to 52 homeless people sleep every night. He fixed broken windows, painted the facade and built a front porch.

And the neighbors are largely placated, now that the shelter has been repaired and has been approved by the city.

“There’s more organization to it than there was,” said Carole Peterson, 71, a homeowner who lives a few blocks away.

City officials say they hope Drake will keep his promise to build a permanent building for the homeless, eventually tearing down the prefabricated building.