Nonprofits in North Carolina's Albemarle region are working on getting a permanent homeless shelter built.
In the meantime, a relatively new program is helping to get people off the streets on cold nights.
The Salvation Army of the Albemarle Region is working with community partners to provide people experiencing homelessness with an emergency hotel room.
“When we're talking about getting below 40 degrees, we're looking at life threatening conditions where persons are in need of immediate assistance,” said Jason Hughes, Major of the Salvation Army of the Albemarle Region.
Here's how the program works: a person or family experiencing homelessness calls either Elizabeth City Police or the Pasquotank County Sheriff's office and requests an emergency night’s stay. Law enforcement then checks to ensure they don't have any outstanding warrants or are on the sex offender registry. They are then referred to the Salvation Army for assistance.
The program launched for the season in October and has already help more than 30 people. Last year, it didn’t start until Christmas Eve.
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Hughes said the agency spent an estimated $15,000 last season on the program and could spend more than $20,000 this season. A portion of the cost is being offset by a grant from the Elizabeth City Foundation, Hughes said.
“The costs of people in a hotel are expensive. It’s not an ideal situation. That’s not the solution. A shelter is the solution,” Hughes said. “Some of those projects are in the works in the community but right there’s still nothing, so we’re trying to address that issue.”
One night’s stay can have an impact beyond just a cold night. One mother was able to get more lasting assistance after taking part in the program, according to client services manager Lola Wright.
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“She told me herself she was sleeping in her vehicle. And she didn't know about other organizations to reach out to,” Wright said. “So with this it really did help her, and it got her and her child a nice warm bed and something to eat as well as clothes to put on their backs.”
Those who need to take part in the program are asked to first call the Elizabeth City Police Department’s non-emergency line at 252-335-4321 or the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Department non-emergency line at 252-338-2191.
