Two women recently reporting encounters with homeless persons are scheduled to speak at the end of a “Walk for Safety of Citizens and Businesses” Saturday morning in downtown Mount Airy, an organizer said.
Denise Carlisle and Jessica Cockerham are among a growing number expected for the walk aimed at “bringing awareness to our over-increasing homeless population and related issues,” according to its promotional material.
Everyone from Mount Airy and surrounding areas is invited to gather at 9 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of PNC Bank on North Main Street, which is on the upper end of the central business district.
They then will march along North Main Street to the grounds of the Municipal Building on South Main, where speaker remarks and prayer are planned.
Participants may make and carry signs during the procession.
Local elected officials are expected to participate in the walk, with city Commissioner Deborah Cochran earlier pledging to do. Also, county commissioners including Larry Johnson of the Mount Airy District and possibly Van Tucker have indicated plans to attend, according to David Hall, a local businessman and city council candidate who is spearheading the walk.
Hall said Tuesday he has publicly invited officials of both Mount Airy and Surry to the event along with those of the county’s other three municipalities, to reflect the widespread scope of the homeless issue as not just a problem here.
“I personally called all the county commissioners,” said Hall, the longtime owner of Porkey’s Bar-B-Que on West Lebanon Street.
First-hand accounts
Hall said the speakers outside the Municipal Building will include Carlisle, who told city officials during a March 21 public forum that two men believed to be homeless had threatened her as she walked in the greenway area on Feb. 18.
Local barber Jessica Cockerham also advised council members on Feb. 15 of multiple altercations she has had with what Cockerham termed the “abandoned” population. They are apparent homeless persons who some people claim have been routinely dropped off in Mount Airy from other areas under the notion that free services await them here.
Men have forced their way into her vehicle and a building she has been renovating for a new shop near Riverside Park, Cockerham related.
But the ultimate catalyst for Saturday’s walk was a recent court case. It involved the May 2023 rape of a then 17-year-old female authorities say originated on the Granite City Greenway, a venue that’s become a focal point for the local homeless problem.
David Ray Lunsford, 38, who reportedly had been living under a bridge near the greenway which crosses West Pine Street, was convicted of forcing the victim at knifepoint to leave that location where she had been running. She then was taken to other premises where multiple sex crimes including a first-degree rape occurred.
In late March, Lunsford, who also has been listed with an address in Pinnacle, received a minimum 71-year prison sentence in Surry Superior Court.
Community safety stressed
Homelessness and its related problems arguably have become the top concern in Mount Airy, rising to the forefront last fall when the issue dominated multiple meetings of the city council.
It has divided the community into basically two camps, one that believes people who’ve become homeless largely are suffering from mental illness and/or drug addiction who need specialized care rendered by professionals.
The other side favors a more hardline approach to hold the homeless fully accountable for theft, trespassing, assault and other crimes linked to their numbers which have been ample in police arrest reports in recent months.
Another common sentiment is that persons able to cope with living in a tent, for example, also possess the wherewithal to take some of the many jobs available locally and improve their living conditions.
There is an overriding need to protect the community, Hall believes, especially women, children and senior citizens.
“I mean, they’re our most vulnerable people,” he added Tuesday, with businesses also lacking safeguards.
“The goal is to get this under control,” Hall said of the threat as it relates to Saturday’s walk.
“We’ve got to make the public aware of how they’re getting here and stop it,” he said regarding the homeless influx.
Hall acknowledged that some older residents are not able to trek the distance between PNC Bank and City Hall.
But they may ride to the latter location to hear the remarks, where there is convenient parking in front of the Municipal Building.
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