The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service currently operates a 52-bed transitional housing facility on Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard. But IFC leadership is proposing several changes to the Good Neighbor Plan that was agreed to when the facility was approved in 2012.

Some of the changes are aimed at using alternate terminology, eliminating redundancies and streamlining the services the non-profit offers. Others would be more substantial changes to the Good Neighbor Plan.

An eight-page document from the IFC details the proposed 26 alterations. The first would change terminology in the current plan from referring to “homeless people” or “homeless persons” to now use “people experiencing homelessness.”

Other proposals would limit some barriers to entry at the facility, including eliminating the requirement of a valid photo ID, removing the condition that anyone wanting to access the facility has to call beforehand and allowing those accessing the shelter to arrive by “all available forms of transportation,” rather than being picked up downtown and driven to and from the facility.

The IFC is also asking to change the facility designation from Transitional Housing to an Emergency Shelter program. Officials said that the IFC operates the only shelters in Orange County and “has an obligation to serve people regardless of the circumstances by which they find themselves homeless.”

Changing the designation would also open more possibilities for the facility to use the 17 emergency cots that are currently only allowed to be used in extreme weather conditions.

The proposed changes would have to go before the Chapel Hill Town Council and have set off some negative reaction from residents emailing the council asking that the plan remain as it was approved six years ago.

A meeting set for 7 p.m. Thursday is scheduled to focus on low-barrier housing-focused shelter. Another presentation regarding homelessness in Orange County will be held on two occasions in September.

All meetings are scheduled to be held at United Church of Chapel Hill at 1321 Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard.

More information on the series of meetings hosted by the IFC is available here.

Photo: Cots set up for extra beds on cold nights at IFC shelter / Photo via Chris Horton

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