A local group is looking to bring a facility to Ironton to house homeless former prisoners, but it says the biggest challenge may be convincing the public the facility is not a necessary evil, but a mission of mercy.

The facility, called “independent housing” by the state, takes ex-convicts who have been through the penal system and attempts to reintegrate them into society. The facility would house 20 male, homeless prisoners at a time, for 90 days a piece.

Similar facilities already have been opened in Columbus, Lorain, Cleveland, Dayton and Lima.

Dennis Murphy is one of the co-owner of Spectrum Outreach Services, which helps those with drug addictions. That same group of owners will run the facility, though the two enterprises will be separate.

“The main goal is to allow these people to come off of the city streets

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to give them a chance for life, to become productive,” Murphy said.

He said that he’s worried the facility will be misinterpreted. As it will mainly be taking former prisoners from this region, it would be importing few new criminals, but his hurdle is to convince residents of that.

“My biggest challenge is to educate the community to let them know that these guys are already here,” Murphy said. “Once the public is educated on what’s already going on, I don’t think I’ll have many problems out of the community.”

Although independent housing may sound like a halfway house, there are differences. Namely, independent housing is voluntary, there are no penalties for leaving. Also, being referred to independent housing is not an alternative to treatment.

As a result of the lower security, the facility will only accept ex-convicts who are considered low-risk.

Even though the ex-convicts are not required to stay on the premises, Murphy said that often, just having a place to go can keep them from becoming repeat offenders.

The facility also provides instruction in basic life skills, even something as simple as how to balance a checkbook, all with the goal of providing a viable alternative to crime.

Murphy believes in the idea, but now he’s faced with the problem of getting the rest of the city on board. He said that so far, talks with local officials have been positive, in fact the Ironton Port Authority is helping him to find a location.

He’s also hoping to win the public over, not only with promises of safety, but of the 20 or so jobs that will be created between $12 and $15 an hour.

Public discussion sessions are also planned, though no specific dates have been set.

If Bruce Monford’s experience is any indication, Murphy may not have as much to worry about as he thinks. Monford is the director of Mary Alice’s House, an IH facility in Lima. He said that not only has he had no problems with those living is his facility, but the public has also been untroubled.

“Honestly, here in Lima, we have not had one problem with the people we’ve had here, not a single outburst,” Monford said. “And as far as the community, they haven’t had anything to say about it at this point.”