This is Raleigh Mann.
Well, there goes the neighborhood.
That has been the concern of the people who are uncomfortable with the thought of homeless men living near them.
Yes, I’m talking about the Inter-Faith Council’s new Community House for homeless men that is about to be built on Martin Luther King Boulevard just north of Homestead Road. A half-million-dollar grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank in Atlanta, plus a million dollars from the State Employees Credit Union, have guaranteed that this long-awaited project now can go forward. Work on it should start next month, and the building should be ready to open in about a year.
This new two-story center will replace the overcrowded downtown shelter on Rosemary Street with a 52-bed transitional facility that will include medical and dental care and counseling services to help residents reach the point where they can live independently and contribute to the community.
“That’s important,” says John Dorward, the IFC’s executive director. “That’s our goal.”
What the shelter will not have is sex offenders. Dorward emphasizes that these men are not predators. Every one is thoroughly screened before being accepted for admission.
Chapel Hill and Orange County are among the most affluent communities in our state, yet our poverty rate is among the state’s highest. We have a wide gap here between the haves and the have-nots, and some people end up homeless.
The new IFC-SECU Community House offers us something to celebrate in this community that manages to help people achieve better lives, often despite intense opposition. And for those who have opposed this facility, there’s good news.
A Good Neighbor Plan adopted by town officials has created an advisory committee populated by neighbors of the center, people who feel strongly about this place and who have a stake in its success. These advisors will start meeting in January, several months before the place opens. The community will continue to have a voice, and it will be heard; and that, my friends, is important.
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