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Daystar Stirs Community Controversy

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By LIZ BLEAU, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

GIBSONTON - Some neighbors of Daystar, a faith-based agency that helps the poor and homeless, are complaining the facility on the grounds of the United Methodist Church on Lazella Street, is attracting an unwelcome element to their neighborhood.

Other residents who live near Daystar support it and the work it's doing.

Daystar opened in February under Sister Kathleen Keck, a retired Franciscan nun, and set out to provide groceries and a daily meal for the homeless and the poor. It also has a thrift shop that supplies food and household items for a nominal charge to those in need.
Center director Sue Sutko said Daystar is not drawing people to the area. The people who come to Daystar have been in the community for years, she said, but didn't have a place to go for help until Daystar opened.

Neighbor Pat Dunn who lives on property adjoining Daystar, wrote and distributed a petition opposing the agency's presence in the neighborhood.

'They hang around after hours,' Dunn said of the people who congregate at Daystar under a shade tree where the daily meal is provided and where prayer services are held. 'I see people sleeping on couches there at night, and in the early morning I see them on the grounds, washing and changing clothes.'

He is also concerned that Daystar also has gardens being tended by young 4-H members.

'Something is not right about it when you have children growing vegetables and homeless people around together,' he said.

In a concession to neighbors' concerns, Sutko said Daystar moved its picnic table from behind its building to an area in front, close to the street.

The Rev. Wayne Kato of the United Methodist Church of Gibsonton, who loans Daystar the use of the building and grounds, said that Daystar is meeting a need in the community.

'Since 1926, our church has been here for the people,' he said. 'Personally, I am thrilled that Daystar is here. We tried doing a meal for the poor on Sundays and some groceries, and then this came along. It has been an answer to a prayer for our church.'

'This place is a sanctuary, just as the church has always been. We are here to serve people,' Sutko said.

Gibsonton Community Resource Deputy Phil Merkle said he is aware of the neighbors' concerns and the issues were discussed at a recent meeting of the Community Council, the group that works with the community resource deputy.

'I am neutral in this, and I understand both sides,' he said. 'People have a right to complain. There are some serious concerns. And yet I certainly respect what she Sutko is doing. We could easily be one of these people; one fire could do that.'

He thinks maybe a solution might be to move Daystar to a commercial area and outside of a residential area.

Merkle said the facility is not a 24-hour operation, but some of the people stay on or near the grounds after Daystar closes.

'There is no place for them to sleep or to go to the bathroom,' he said.

Merkle also thinks Daystar needs to work more with the community, which was not consulted before the agency moved in.

'We need to come to some kind of solution,' Merkle said.
Sutko said she has made changes in response to the neighbors' complaints. In addition to moving the picnic area, Sutko has agreed to not have teenaged community service workers at the site.

She said she does screen the people who come to Daystar for its services and will turn people away if they are convicted sex offenders or have been violent.

Kato said some of the neighbors may be seeing people they have not seen before on their area streets, but he said many of the people who come to Daystar have been in the community for years.

Danny 'Critter' Sawyer, 38, was homeless in Brandon for more than a year. He now has a job, sometimes doing tree work, and often a place to stay with his boss.

He comes to Daystar to help out and also for a meal or to occasionally shower and wash his clothes. A recovering alcoholic and drug addict, Sawyer said he is on the verge of being homeless and that having a place like Daystar 'makes a big difference for me.'

Joe Stopowenko, who lives across the street from Daystar, said he supports the agency.

'They are helping people who need it,' he said. 'Everybody needs help at some time. Just because some don't need help, why should they interfere with what God wants done? God has kindness for everyone.'

Stopowenko said he tries to help Daystar and has given it items for the thrift store. 'Everyone should help out,' he said.

Around the corner from Stopowenko, neighbor Robert Cover opposes Daystar.

'Most of the people who go there have a place to live,' he said, 'and a lot of them are crackheads. They need to have better control.'

Cover, whose yard is secured with a chain-link fence and several guard dogs, said he is concerned about some of the people the agency attracts to his street.

Billy Johnson who lives diagonally across from Daystar said the agency and its clients do not bother him.

'It helps a lot of people. I go there for lunch sometimes,' he said. 'I have seen them try to get rid of people who are using drugs or they think are stealing.'

Some of the residents took their concerns to the local civic association, Concerned Citizens of Gibsonton. Lee Stevens, the association president, said he told the group they needed to meet with the Daystar staff and try to work out some of their issues.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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