Accusations against local homeless ministry raise questions about their use of funds

GLOVERVILLE, S.C. (WJBF) – An Aiken County ministry that serves the homeless is now at the center of controversy.

Over the weekend, several people who live in Gloverville and Burnettown gathered at Sassafras Park to voice their concerns about the Walking Tall Homeless Ministry.

They’re accusing it of misappropriating funds among other things.

Now the director, Zak Moyer, is speaking out and defending his ministry.

“There were a few folks in the community that we’ve had issues with before that don’t like what we do. They don’t like homeless people, they don’t like people with drug addiction. I think anything they can use to attack this ministry with an end result of bringing the ministry down is what they would use,” said Moyer.

The ministry has been operating in Gloverville since 2017, offering free haircuts, food, shelter and clothing to the homeless.

But some community members have recently been critical of the ministry’s operations—including the way they spend local funds.

“One of the things we used funds for last year is we acquired 5 apartments next door. We have a long-term recovery program, but I didn’t hear anybody saying anything about that,” Moyer said. “The purpose behind this ministry is to share the gospel with those individuals, and help the ones that are in there that want to recover and want to get their lives back on track. That’s where a lot of funds go.”

Moyer says they’re also accused of moving homeless people into Aiken County from different parts of the country.

He says that accusation is also false. 

“Shipping people in (if we were trying to make money) is a really bad decision. I think the idea behind that is when people come in, they get ID’d, you take the ID down, and you get funds for that. So, we’ve never shipped anybody in,” said Moyer.

Steve Feldman with Aiken County Transitional Management attended the meeting as a bystander. 

“I don’t want to make any judgements without knowing all the facts, but “The residents in that area do seem to have legitimate complaints,” Feldman said. “They’re taking them to the county Sheriff who is their policing institution, and they may be contacting their state and local representatives, who would be the appropriate way to go.”

When asked if the ministry can still be trusted, this was Moyer’s response.

“There are people that hate what we do, and there’s nothing we can say that’s going to change that. If someone is genuinely wondering if they should support this ministry or not, I would invite them to have a conversation about it, and I’ll be glad to lay out exactly what we do with what we’re given,” he said.

A countywide Town Hall meeting is set for next Monday, October 6th, at 6 PM at Aiken Technical College, where this matter will be discussed further.

Burnettown Mayor Karen Jones and Aiken County Sheriff Marty Sawyer are expected to attend.

It will also be hosted by South Carolina State Representative Melissa Oremus, who presides over District 84.