Federal prosecutors file suit against Brunswick for attempts to close The Well

Federal civil rights prosecutors have filed a complaint against Brunswick to stop the city’s ongoing battle to shut the downtown homeless shelter called The Well, saying the pressure is a violation of religious freedom.

The court action, announced Tuesday, is the latest escalation in the more than two-year legal battle instigated by city officials that the Dept. of Justice’s Civil Rights Division now argues has put an undue burden on the Christian day shelter. 

Since 2022 the city has tried to limit the activities at The Well after an intense lobby campaign from downtown business owners, although the organization has not violated any zoning or municipal laws. The Well, operated by the religious nonprofit Faithworks, is funded through private donations not public funds, and it is the only group that offers daytime services to the unhoused in Brunswick. 

Much of the local opposition to The Well has been based on erroneous facts cited by some residents and businesses who claimed that thousands of 911 calls showed the shelter to be a public safety threat. Reporting by The Current, however, found that only a small proportion of those calls were from activity related to the homeless clients of The Well, and only a handful of those emergency calls were in response to violence in the vicinity of the shelter.

Federal lawyers cited this reporting in their court complaint, including a statement from the Brunswick chief of police to The Current in Aug. 2023 confirming that the calls were related to mostly nonviolent complaints.

The court filing seeks an injunction against the city and its attempts to close the shelter. 

“Federal law protects the right of religious groups such as The Well to use their land to help others,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a press release. “The division will continue to vindicate the rights of groups to exercise their religion and fight local land use laws that unlawfully restrict those rights.”

The federal court documents detail the back-and-forth of policy debates and decisions by city officials, including Mayor Cosby Johnson, and some of the local politics driving the dispute, which include allegations that the city would allow The Well to continue operations if the Faithworks leader — Rev. Wright Culpepper — stepped down.

Johnson declined to comment.

Culpepper, however, welcomed the new developments.

“Last year, a significant amount of misinformation and misunderstanding spread through social media, creating a chaotic environment that severely impacted our ability to respond effectively to the needs of the most vulnerable members of our community,” he said in a statement provided to The Current. 

An ongoing squabble

The suit is the latest escalation in the dispute between the city and Faithworks.  

Brunswick filed a complaint in Glynn County Superior Court against the group in July 2023, alleging a public nuisance claim and seeking a permanent injunction to end its services. In addition, the city filed a motion for an emergency restraining order seeking to permanently stop The Well from operating.

These actions by city officials “created an additional cloud of uncertainty that delayed our ability to continue our services and respond more quickly to the needs of those in crisis,” said Rev. Culpepper. 

Despite the challenges, The Well currently provides supportive services to those who are homeless or housing insecure by providing showers, laundry services, food, respite and access to social services such as obtaining identification cards. 

The federal court filing details some of the backroom negotiations that have occurred since last year, especially the time between when The Well shut down voluntarily for 65 days to try to address concerns from the downtown community. 

In that period, Mayor Johnson met with Culpepper and threatened to seek a judicial order to shut down The Well as a nuisance property if The Well reopened, according to the court filing. He claimed that the city’s decision was one of political necessity due to “voters’ complaints,” according to the court documents. He then suggested that The Well could reopen “if it chose to rename itself and open quietly without Reverend Culpepper’s leadership,” the filing says.

The suggestions came despite The Well’s decision to adopt suggestions by Brunswick’s police chief Kevin Jones, such as running background checks on individuals who wanted to use The Well’s services and eliminating overnight camping on The Well’s porch, where a fence had been erected. Another newly instituted policy was a requirement that staff take training on topics including mental health issues and de-escalating conflicts.

Culpepper told The Current that he and his team remain committed to their calling to help Brunswick’s less fortunate.

“Looking ahead, we are eager to carry out our religious duties, carrying out our responsibilities by loving our neighbors and continuing our services to the most needy in our community  It is our greatest concern that many in our community are suffering without access to rest, safety, or protection from the elements, often vulnerable to exploitation. We are committed to doing more to help those who need it most,” said Rev. Culpepper.