Faith Alive Ministries executive director Jordan Whitley speaks at the Albemarle City Council meeting on July 7. Courtesy City of Albemarle

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ALBEMARLE — Following a rezoning request that was voted down by the Albemarle City Council on July 7, Faith Alive Ministries has since provided a public response.

“The community has just been tremendously supportive,” executive director Jordan Whitley said on Thursday morning in a video response. “We are so incredibly thankful for the encouragement, the kind words, and those who showed up to the council meeting and spoke on behalf of the ministry. It truly takes a village, and we have been so humbled and blown away by the amount of people who showed up to encourage there and those who have reached out since then.”

The Albemarle-based nonprofit organization had been under contract to buy a 0.48-acre residential property at 936 North Fifth Street in Albemarle, envisioning plans to use it as both an administrative office space and a temporary foster care housing center in partnership with the Stanly County Department of Social Services.

However, in a 4-3 vote with a tiebreaking decision by Mayor Ronnie Michael, the city council opted against rezoning the property to a hospital medical district classification, despite the city’s planning board previously approving the move in a unanimous vote on June 5.

Whitley said that many people had contacted her organization wanting to know how they could get involved or provide assistance in a variety of ways.

“I want to invite you to join us in praying that either God changes the hearts of the leaders in Albemarle, or that he opens the doors for the perfect place for the ministry. The first action that I want you to take is to pray. Second, write emails and make your voice heard. Be kind and represent Christ well in those emails, but it’s okay to speak up for truth. It’s okay to say, ‘Hey, this decision is not right.’”

Whitley followed that up by advocating for more people to become licensed foster families and learning more about the process by emailing [email protected].

“There are children sleeping at DSS on the floors because there are not enough foster homes in our area. If you are looking for ways to put your faith into action, and you’ve been looking for a sign, here is your big neon sign: become a licensed foster family. We can help you with that. We have several avenues where we can get you set up with a placing agency or a licensing agency so that you can start the process to become a foster family.”

She also noted that Faith Alive Ministries is always accepting financial donations at jointhefam.org/give.

The organization’s board of directors is planning to meet later this month to discuss its options for moving forward in light of the Albemarle City Council’s recent vote.