Fayetteville Day Resource Center
Fayetteville - After Hurricanes Matthew and Florence hit Fayetteville, the city’s leadership knew it needed to identify a way to assist its homeless population during a disaster. With the help of a grant from NCORR’s Infrastructure program, the city rehabilitated a vacant building on South King Street and turned it into the Day Resource Center. The center will serve the dual purpose of being an emergency shelter during a disaster as well as being a central location for nonprofits to provide services to those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.
“This center will play a vital role in enhancing our community’s capability and capacity for disaster response,” said Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin. “We know all too well what happens when a disaster strikes a community. By centralizing service providers and removing barriers created by transportation challenges, we’ll be better prepared to support and care for our most vulnerable residents during this time of crisis.”
The center opened its doors in August 2023. It’s conveniently located near the city’s homeless shelter and is next to a bus line to provide easy access for those who need to utilize its services.
Cumberland Health Net will manage the center and recruit non-profits to provide case management, medical and other services. To attract people who need assistance, the center has shower and laundry facilities and serves lunch five days a week.
Fayetteville Day Resource Center
“The city’s idea was to provide a focal point and a launching pad for these services,” said Chris Cauley, Fayetteville Director of Economic and Community Development. “The best way for us to solve a huge problem like homelessness is for us all to work together. So, to provide a resource where non-profits can come in free of charge and work together side by side to solve some of these issues, it creates that focal point of energy. That idea that we’re all working towards the same goal.”
“We were inspired by this project and inspired by the leadership in the city,” Tracey Colores, NCORR Community Development Director said. “That they would take on this project to renovate and rehabilitate an existing structure to provide vital services to those experiencing homelessness and serve as an emergency shelter in the event of future natural disasters. It’s these types of projects that really help us feel like we’re making an impact with the federal dollars that have been entrusted to our state.”
Cauley says he is not only grateful for the funding NCORR provided, but also for the guidance the city received.
“The NCORR team has been great to work with,” Cauley said. “The level of professionalism and expertise has just been impressive. We’re just so appreciative as a city for NCORR’s support of the project. This could not be done in a community like Fayetteville without support from the state and without this disaster recovery money.”