North Buffalo residents sparred Tuesday over whether a planned residence for homeless and abused youth would be an asset for their neighborhood or the ruin of it.

The venue for their disagreement — the former Plymouth United Church of Christ at 400 Lincoln Parkway and Amherst Street— is where the nonprofit United Church Home wants to establish the boarding house. It would serve about 12 youths and young men between 16 and 20 years old.

Carol Halter, director of development for United Church Home, sought to assure about 100 residents at the informational meeting that the youths and young men will not be a danger to the community. She described them as victims of neglect, abuse and poverty. “They’re good kids who just need a home,” she said. “They need a break.”

But some residents expressed concerns about their property values and their safety. While they acknowledged the good works of Compass House, an emergency shelter for homeless youth that would run the group home, residents appeared unmoved by the emotional appeals of its executive director, Sylvia Nadler, and Mary Julian, a board member and former resident of Compass House, who shared her story. Some decried the appeals as manipulation.

“I have spent the better part of my career helping the most helpless in society, and I am angry as heck about being insulted and lied to, and [the operators of the proposed group home] referring to 16-to 20-year-olds as children, they’re not,” said Margot Bennett of Amherst Street.

She and other residents demanded more information about the professional qualifications of those who would be directly in charge of supervising the group home residents, security measures that the operators propose to take and precautions that would ensure residents’ safety.

Others, such as Nancy Carp, of Chatham Avenue, sought to assure the operators of the proposed facility that there are residents who support the project.

“This is a stable neighborhood with caring families, good transportation . . . good access to the schools, and I’m sure you have a professional intake process that screens out kids who can’t make it in an unstructured environment, and I hope that there is a way for people who are in support of you to get their voices heard as well as people who are afraid of you,” Carp said.