Clearlake >> “The Bible says to beware a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but at 6 feet and 210 pounds, I’m more like a sheep in wolf’s clothing,” Pastor Kelly Kennemer said.
He was once a convict who spent three decades in and out of correctional facilities, but Kennemer has since found his calling through helping the homeless.
“Most of the people that I’ve ministered to I’ve made more mistakes than them, I wear them on my sleeve,” Kennemer said. “ I don’t think anybody is beyond redemption.”
Indeed, he has tattoos that cover his arms and offer a glimpse into his past life, with images of spider webs and flames, but most notable are the words, “Son of God” written across his neck. In September, he became the pastor for the Promise Center Church on Lakeshore Drive where he gave services Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings, but he soon realized he wanted to do more.
“God spoke to my heart and said, ‘this is my house and you only use it a few times a week,’” Kennemer said. “‘There are people who are starving and cold.’”
Beginning in November, Kennemer along with other members of the community provided the only safe place in Lake County to sleep and plenty of meals to fulfill all of the nutritional needs for roughly half of the homeless population in the city of Clearlake. Anywhere between 18 to 40 people including mothers and infants spent the night at the church.
One of those was Renée James, who said she wouldn’t have made it through the winter if it weren’t for the church. Before that, she was sleeping in an abandoned truck without windows in the middle of the woods.
“People staying there are 100 percent appreciative because without it they would be sleeping outside in the rain,” church member Derek Joel said. However, he admits, “it was probably not in the best way, but what they did was right.”
The church had no official designation to serve as a homeless shelter and structurally had some code violations, but Kennemer felt he had to do something because “the city has done nothing about this and this problem is rampant,” he said. “These are good people that are down on their luck.”
After issues with the fire marshal and a visit on March 16 from Clearlake police officers, the church was no longer able to function as a shelter and the regulars had to find another place to eat and sleep.
“They are infringing on my religious liberties,” Kennemer said. “This is Christian charity.”
Clearlake Mayor Denise Loustalot acknowledges homelessness is an issue but, “if you’re asking me how to fix it, I don’t know how to answer that, it’s a collaborative effort.” Adding that the city currently lacks a suitable building to use as a shelter which makes things more difficult.
Loustalot said if the subject was brought to the council’s attention the first step would probably be to look at how other cities in the area handle the issue and suggested Kennemer approach city staff to provide shelter to the homeless by the books.
“The biggest thing that the city could do to help is just twiddle their thumbs. People who aren’t doing anything can always do it better than someone else,” Kennemer said. “What I did was an imperfect solution to an immediate problem, the city could have worked more with me instead of sicking the city attorney.”
Despite the setbacks, he was able to acquire two houses in Clearlake to continue providing a warm place to stay. Kennemer, volunteers and people staying at the home have been working tirelessly to fix it up and move beds and furniture out of the former church.
“We’re going to be OK,” Kennemer said. “I want this to be a home, I don’t want this to be a shelter.”
He may not have support from the city, but it does come from other residents and churches in the area.
Sunday morning, the fellowship gathered to worship at one of the homes for the first time, and held their regular Sunday dinners that evening, a tradition that began when husband and wife Cecil and Diana Dixon brought leftover Christmas food to the church.
“This community has been very supportive of what I’ve done,” Kennemer said. “There will be a homeless shelter here and it will be big and be proper, coming to Clearlake soon, we haven’t gone away.”
The home has laundry and a place to shower, an upgrade from the church building, and the group plans on having a vegetable garden to become even more self sufficient.
His ultimate goal is to have an official shelter as well as transitional housing, and he has no intentions of abandoning that.
“I dug my grave on the edge of this town, I’m not leaving,” Kennemer said.
