Boone: “I was never here for politics or popularity.”

After announcing she is leaving Oaks of Righteousness Christian Ministries and Oaks Village in Monroe, Pastor Heather Boone is at peace.

“I have a peace that I have not had in a very long time. I trust God and I trust that he knows what is best. I was never here for politics or popularity. I was here on assignment from God,” Boone said. “I have done my best and now I am handing the baton off to the person who will take it across the finish line.”

Fourteen years ago, Boone came to Monroe and started her ministry, Oaks of Righteousness. She transformed the former St. Joseph Catholic Church to create Oaks Victory Village. The campus evolved into a homeless shelter, food pantry, clothing closet, child care center, free health clinic and nonprofit market with plans to open a beauty salon.

The homeless shelter started as a warming center. Within a year, it turned into a 24-hour shelter, open 365 days a year, providing transitional housing and an emergency warming shelter. There are many reasons why people have sought refuge at the shelter. Some are escaping domestic violence. For others, it may be because of a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, substance abuse or mental illness.

“We never set out to be a homeless shelter,” she said. “Over the years, we’ve turned into a dumping ground. We started talking about the problems and no one liked that because everybody wants to portray Monroe as this cute, quaint place. Talking about the homeless and drugs doesn’t fit into that nice package.”

For several years, Boone has begged for support from the Monroe Community Mental Health Authority (MCMHA) through emails, phone calls and attending board meetings.

For the past several months, she has been entangled in disputes with human service agencies and community leaders over the provision of mental health services at Oaks and in the Orchard East neighborhood. She closed the homeless shelter for about three weeks in February and March this year over the lack of mental health services.

In March, Boone and a supporter attended a Monroe Community Mental Health Authority Community Coalition meeting. It disintegrated into a conflict that included shouting and a refusal to leave. Law enforcement officials led Boone away,

“It has come to a point people aren’t listening and it doesn’t matter how bad things are. The fact of the matter is they just want to fight against me,” she said. “There are individuals in leadership in Monroe who have let their dislike of me keep them from doing what's best for this community. As a leader, I feel it is more important for me to step away and not hinder the great work Oaks has been called to do in this community. I don’t want the people in Monroe, the people I am serving, to be hurt by this."

Boone contends the fighting is overshadowing the good work happening at Oaks and the issues of what needs to be done.

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“I’m watching mothers burying their children. I’m watching people signing up for mental health help and if the board won’t listen to these people because they are associated with me, that’s a problem,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m Black or because I’m a woman or if it’s because I’m an outsider. I brought (former state Sen.) Randy Richardville in and, because he was affiliated with me, they would not listen to him, either. I’m the problem and just want to get out of the way. The leaders don’t care about what’s right and what’s wrong. They only care about fighting against me.”

She is hopeful her leaving will allow Oaks to build the bridges it needs to be able to work with the people in the community.

She’s in the process of finding a replacement, a pastor for the church who will serve as president of the nonprofit Oaks Village.

“I have not decided on my successor. I have in my heart who I feel God is going to put in that position but I’m waiting for that person to step up,” she said. “Matthew 10:14 says, ‘If they will not receive your message and won’t welcome you, shake the dust off your feet and leave that town or leave that home.’ That’s where it is. They are not receiving the message.

“I am crying out about the mental health problem. I’m crying about the racial disparities and the substance abuse problem and the message is falling on mute ears for the leadership.”

She’s kept a long list of the trauma in the community: In the shooting of Cpl. Renae Peterson on Dixie Highway in 2020, one suspect was from the Orchard East community and the other suspect, who struggled with mental illness, had just moved out of the shelter. The young woman who was killed and her body was dumped at the old Boysville facility in Frenchtown Township had struggled with mental illness and had stayed at the shelter before she was killed. One of the alleged killers also had previously stayed at the shelter. The family of the teenage girl on Peters Street who was electrocuted in 2022 had lived in the shelter. The list goes on and on. It’s followed by a lengthy list of overdoses, fights, domestic situations and people in psychosis and mania in the shelter.

Boone asserts the help she gets comes from other sources outside of Monroe County.

Perhaps Boone’s aggressive approach to getting things done has hindered her success. She’s been described as “a shark in a fish tank.” She admits she has gotten angry and loud over the years and she doesn’t want to work with the people who don’t want to work with her.

Recently, state Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, invited Boone to testify in Lansing about homelessness issues. Later, a team from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services visited the shelter. The end result is two grants from the state of Michigan, $500,000 to be used for shelter operations and $250,000 for shelter repairs. The funds are expected after the first of the year.

“I feel like instead of building the poorest area of Monroe County up, I feel like a lot of people in power have just decided to ignore this area,” Boone said. "My bold, bull in a china shop way is not getting things done.”

In six months, Boone and her husband, Britton, will leave the city taking nothing more than their personal belongings.

“I love the people in Monroe. Whenever I have called on the community for help, they’ve showed up over and over again,” she said. “It’s not the citizens of Monroe. It’s the leadership. It’s the people on the boards, the commissions, the councils. It’s hard to get anything through to them. They basically have an agenda. They know what they want to do. They know what they want to accomplish, and listening to me or listening to the people doesn’t fit into that narrative.”

Boone knows she can’t stay in Monroe and not continue to fight.

“God has me taking my hands off of the whole thing. He wants me to trust him and take care of myself,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Boone: “I was never here for politics or popularity.”