The Ponca Tribe has been working to open a casino in Carter Lake, Iowa for more than a decade. Now it faces opposition from the Open Door Mission, a faith-based group headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The organization operates a homeless shelter one mile from the tribe’s proposed gaming site.
Open Door Mission President and Chief Executive Officer Candace L. Gregory said, “Gambling may well be a money-maker at first glance, but it seems that the economic costs of problem gambling have been – and continue to be – a growing burden on those vulnerable populations who can least afford the monetary and social losses.” She added, people with gambling problems are more likely to “smoke, binge drink or take illegal drugs.”
The city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, home of three commercial casinos, has filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the Ponca Tribe’s proposed casino.
The tribe currently operates a smoke shop on the land.
