SUFFOLK, Va. — The city of Suffolk is in the process of buying a motel off of Pruden Blvd. to be turned into the city's first year-round temporary homeless shelter.
As growth continues to happen in Suffolk, so too is the number of people experiencing homelessness.
City leaders are trying to get ahead of that issue after approving an ordinance on Wednesday to grant a Conditional Use Permit to establish a temporary shelter where the Regal Inn Motel is currently located.
Using ARPA funding set aside to address area homelessness, the city will renovate the 19-room motel to house those in need for a 30 to 60 day period.
Kevin Hughes, Deputy City Manager, said the idea came from the City of Norfolk who has already purchased and renovated a hotel into a temporary shelter.
"We've toured it, we've met with them, we've got a number of their documents and lessons learned along the way," Hughes said. "We saw that we could replicate that."
Based off data from the planning council, Hughes said Suffolk has around 43 individual people who are experiencing homelessness.
He said last winter he heard from an organization in the city that had to help up to 25 people find a home.
"So that number has been increasing not at a rapid rate but one that is concerning," Hughes said.
He said over the next few months the city will be looking to work with a third party to manage the shelter and to finalize the set up of each room.
Besides a roof over their heads, the shelter will also provide employment and health resources to those in need.
Hughes said the hope is to open the shelter at the end of next year or early 2025.
"There's not necessarily a good face to homelessness, it's all around us, it's a challenging one, and it's not always connected to one story or another," Hughes said. "Without a solution in place, it's out there solving or not solving itself."
The city will hold an open house before the opening of the shelter to allow residents to check out the inside and see how things will operate.
