The six-story Brantley Center, located in what was the city’s garment district, is up for sale. When Southern Baptists purchased the then-50-year-old building in the early 1960s, it became the fourth location of a continually expanding ministry to the homeless. Surrounded now by luxury condos and hotels, and no longer in an area where the homeless congregate, the center’s 250-bed emergency shelter and rehab program has been closed since Katrina.

In addition to shifting trends in New Orleans homelessness, the 100-year-old Brantley Center became too expensive to maintain with serious water, heating and power issues in addition to storm-related damage. The land on which the Brantley Center is located does have intrinsic value, however, because of the high-dollar revitalization that has taken place in the blocks around it. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) will distribute proceeds from the sale to homeless ministries operated by local and state Baptist partners in New Orleans.

Quoted from article Southern Baptists rally to needs of homeless in New Orleans by Karen L. Willoughby at www.namb.net