Published: July 21, 2008 09:01 am         

Homeless shelter may be closer to reality

Sunday, July 20, 2008 — The combined effort of Homes of Hope, Stanly Community Christian Mini-stry (SCCM) and Stanly Baptist Association, as well as several local individuals, is about to culminate in the opening of an emergency housing shelter in the building at 506 S. First St., which also houses The Lord’s Table lunch program.

The proposal to rezone the area for that purpose is slated for a second reading by the Albemarle City Council Monday, after which SCCM can apply for such rezoning.

A private citizen, Carl Helms, had become acutely aware of the homeless issues in Stanly County while helping a young woman with housing and support during her struggle with homelessness.

Helms began talking with fellow Baptists, including Homer Tindall, about the need of some shelter for those needing emergency housing. Helms investigated possible sites, raised some funds and got the Stanly Baptist Association invol-ved.

Last winter, Bob Odom was assisting a couple of homeless folks with a place to get out of the cold and decided to rally some church members to come up with a solution to help those needing an emergency place to sleep.

Volunteers from several churches put together an effort which included acquiring old cots from the Red Cross, working out an arrangement with Christian Ministry to use half of The Lord’s Table building and a schedule of church members to spend the night and provide dinner and breakfast for overnight guests.

After two weeks of these volunteer efforts, the operation was shut down due to a state requirement for a sprinkler system.

Meanwhile, Homes of Hope has consistently had around 20 families on its waiting list. They have six houses and apartments and their transitional housing program runs for about six months for each family. Many people who come wanting to apply can’t wait six to 10 months and don’t bother to apply. Some just need a few days or weeks to adjust to a new situation, not a six-month program.

For these and other reasons, the Homes of Hope board of directors began discussing the possibility of emergency housing last year.

In April, board members The Rev. Jim Bernacki and The Rev. John Futterer and Skeet Ayscue of Homes of Hope met with Janet Sistare, executive director of United Way, to talk about some ideas. They continued to formulate plans and made contacts with other counties providing emergency housing. (Stanly County is the only county in the area without some type of emergency housing.)

After discovering that they were working on this issue, Helms called them in the spring and they met with him, Hal Bilbo, of the Stanly Baptist Association and Tindall to discuss joining forces on this project. They concluded that was the best route to take.

Since that time, Barry Whitley. director of Stanly Community Christian Ministry, decided to apply for a zoning change for The Lord’s Table building since it seemed like a logical place for emergency housing.

Whitley has been wanting to start something like this for 18 years. He, Helms and Ayscue met with the fire marshal and planning department to determine what other work had to be done to the building to meet code. In addition to the sprinkler system, some fire rated drywall and doors must be added and inspected.

A company has agreed to install what is needed at the reduced cost of $20,000.

Odom helped Whitley with the zoning application that had to begin with modifying the text since no emergency housing has ever been zoned in Albemarle. That text change was approved by Albemarle City Council recently during its first public reading. A second reading will be held Monday. If that passes, then they have to go back to the zoning board and ask for a zoning change reflected in the new text. Then back to city council, etc.

Homes of Hope’s vision of emergency housing is a comprehensive one that includes services to help homeless folks with the issues that led to their current situation. They have already teamed up with DSS, the Mental Health Association, The Community Care Clinic and Monarch to be a part of the services they can offer. Also, many area ministers have agreed to be a regular part of the program to provide any needed spiritual guidance.

In addition to these agencies in Stanly County, Prosperity Unlimited, Community Link, and PBH have pledged to be a part of the services. These agencies, located in Cabarrus County, provide ways to secure permanent shelter and include Stanly County in their service area.

“If we can get these folks pointed in the right direction, many will be able to make it on their own,” Ayscue said.

They need donations to make this program a reality. They will hire a director for the program and may need another part-time employee. They will also need many volunteers to make this work.

A letter was recently sent to all the churches for which they have addresses and to all of previous Homes of Hope donors. Response has been light thus far.