The Refuge on South Wayne will welcome any immigrant to a diverse city, developer says

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — An 18,000-square-foot brick building at the corner of South Wayne Avenue and Rudisill Boulevard could become The Refuge.

Three private investors envision turning the former headquarters for the Missionary Church Association into a nonprofit hub to welcome immigrants who are already in Fort Wayne.

Built in 1949, according to building’s cornerstone, it has been vacant for at least a couple of years and is something of “an eyesore,” according to Jeff Bower, one of three businessmen involved in the proposed development. The other two are Scott Jester and Jon Gerst, per an application made to the Fort Wayne Board of Zoning Appeals.

All three men have been involved in international missionary type work for decades, Bower said, but attend different churches.

The faith-based group is applying for a mixed use variance from the Fort Wayne Board of Zoning Appeals. Because the October BZA meeting was canceled, the application will be discussed at the board’s Nov. 21 meeting.

The building already has eight apartments on the third floor that were used over the years for visiting missionaries. The second floor is ideal for business offices.

“We’d like to use the building as a mixed-use space because the second floor is all business space that could be offered to not-for-profits that aid internationals, specifically in therapy, counseling, business, housing,” Bower said.

But the “heartbeat” of the project is addressing Fort Wayne’s diverse community.

“We have over 70 languages spoken in our public school system. So we’re not inviting newcomers to come in,” Bower said. “We’re helping those who have already chosen to move into Fort Wayne. We want to help them to be a part of our community.”

The Refuge would also have an outdoor play and garden area for residents.

Bower agreed to speak to WANE 15 to clear up misconceptions on who might live at the site.

“I understand that when you watch the news and you’re listening to sound bites, then you can easily be misinformed,” Bower said, answering misleading information that incorrectly identified the building as a Haitian immigrant center.

Jester, in particular, has spent decades in aid work in Haiti and runs a training center there, Bower said.

Bower believes that Jester’s work in Haiti started the misinformation.

“The word was caught and it just happens to be sensational right now because we heard what was going on in Springfield (Ohio) and we see some of the stuff that’s just not true.

“We’re just trying to say,” to the people already living here, “how do we help you? We want people to enjoy Fort Wayne. We want them to bring their gifts and their talents,” Bower said. He pointed to the many ethnically diverse restaurants in town, as a positive for the community.

Bringing the solid brick-and-limestone building back to life would put it back on the tax rolls and bring life to some of the neighboring businesses, Bower added.

“We’re not networking with other agencies in other countries. We’re just simply saying, we have international guests that already live here. What can we do to create a safe platform? ” Those refugees might include Haitians, but also immigrants from Ukraine, Bosnia and South America, he said.

To stop people’s fears, Bower said residents “can literally reach out to one of the three of us. “

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