New Charlotte Shelter Helps Homeless Families

Ran 11.01.2011

By Mark Price, Charlotte Observer

Charlotte has another refuge for its growing homeless population starting today, but this one is unlike the city's better known men's and women's shelters.

Only intact families will be admitted into Hawthorne Place, making it the latest in a growing community effort to tackle the city's stunning 36 percent jump in homeless families last year.

The shelter will operate in space lent at no charge in the Elizabeth community, near Presbyterian Hospital. Though Hawthorne Place will host only six families at a time, it immediately takes its place as one of the larger shelters in the area willing to accept married couples with their children.

Plaza Place in east Charlotte is the largest, with room for 15 families, followed by the Salvation Army's Center of Hope, a shelter for women and children that has 12 rooms for intact families.

Experts estimate that Charlotte has a homeless population of over 6,000 people, an increase of more than 14 percent in overall homeless since last year.

The new shelter is being launched by Charlotte Family Housing, an agency that formed in June with the merger of three smaller charities, all focused on homeless families.

Darren Ash, who heads Charlotte Family Housing, called the past five months "eye opening," with 30 to 40 families a day calling in hopes of getting into one of the agency's programs.

The families chosen to be in Hawthorne Place include both single parents and married couples, with children ranging from 18 months to 16 years. All the adults work 20 or more hours a week at jobs, but still can't make ends meet.

"Families are coming into our program from extended-stay motels and the homes of friends, where they're staying three-deep on the living room floor," said Ash. "We're also seeing more people who are truly living in their cars because that's the one asset they can't give up."

Hawthorne Place is one of three shelter programs run by his agency, including Plaza Place and Family Promise, a network of congregations that give temporary shelter and meals to families.

Up to 25 families at a time can be housed in the three shelter options.

The agency's focus is helping families who need two or three years of supportive services to move from homelessness to economic independence. This includes the "working homeless" (holding low-wage jobs) and employable parents with a solid work history, secondary education or job skills.

Families will stay at Hawthorne Place three months, at which point they're expected to move into the agency's housing program. The latter will provide them with a support system of social workers and volunteers, like a surrogate family, Ash said.

St. John's Baptist Church, at 300 Hawthorne Lane, is lending rooms for Hawthorne Place at no charge, and faith organizations like Elevation Church and Forest Hill are providing volunteers to run the shelter.

The shelter space at St. John's has a long history of helping the needy, said Dennis Foust, senior minister.
It was first a hospitality house for out-of-town families with loved ones staying at Presbyterian Hospital, and later became a home for women suffering from addictions.

"St. John's sees this program as more than just giving shelter - it's changing lives," said Foust, adding that he'd like to see homeless families adopted by other congregations in the county. "Without intending to do so, our suburban lives have separated us from the needs of many," he said.

Among the agency's success stories are parents like Carmen Miller. She moved to North Carolina last year from Chicago, with her husband and three children. Relatives had promised the couple a job and a place to stay, Miller said. "We got here and found out it was all a fantasy. We had $100 on us, which was not even enough to get back to Chicago," she said. "We were literally going to be on the streets ... so I went to the library and did research and found out about this program."

The agency put them in a shelter, helped them find jobs, and taught them how to live within their means, she says. Now, they have their own apartment off Sardis Road.

"It was hard in the beginning, being an adult and still having people all in your business," Miller said. "But after the months go by, you realize they are trying to help. Now, every week our budget is up on the refrigerator and we're thinking smarter. We feel blessed."

To serve at Hawthorne Place Shelter through Forest HIll Church, please contact Jen Cameron

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/01/2739376/new-charlotte-shelter-helps-homeless.html#ixzz1cU747IVO