TITLE
Title
COUNTY SUPPORT OF THE SERVANT CENTER EXPANSION
end
SPONSOR
Sponsor
Chairman Melvin "Skip" Alston and Commissioner Pat Tillman
end
BACKGROUND
Background
For more than 30 years The Servant Center has upheld its mission to "empower the homeless and disabled, particularly veterans, to become independent contributing members of our community through housing, healthcare, and restorative services." The Servant Center advances its mission by providing Servant House, a 21-bed transitional housing program for disabled veterans who are experiencing homelessness; 17 permanent supportive housing apartments in the Glenwood and Haworth Houses for low-income veterans with disabilities and exiting homelessness; rapid rehousing for individuals and families, including many veterans; the AmeriCorps Partnership to End Homelessness, a program that places 20+ members (volunteers) in nonprofit agencies across Guilford County that provide direct service to at-risk and homeless individuals and those with hunger insecurity; and helping un- and under-insured clients and people experiencing homelessness file for SSI/SSDI benefits.
The Servant Center was planning to build a new facility on its current site to give each of the veterans residing at Servant House their own bedroom and bathroom (currently, veterans share 13 bedrooms and only three bathrooms), but in the middle of planning, a nearby property that houses the Center’s administrative staff was purchased. The Center’s current site is not big enough to accommodate the additional space for veterans and all staff.
In addition to addressing additional space needs for Servant House, a significant need exists in Guilford County for medical respite. Medical respite is short-term residential care for persons experiencing homelessness who are too ill or frail to recover from a physical illness or injury on their own but are not ill enough to be in a hospital. To provide community capacity to help meet this need, The Servant Center is working to establish the first medical respite program in Guilford County for those experiencing homelessness. The program will provide 22 beds medical respite beds.
The Servant Center Board of Directors has made an offer to purchase the Holden Heights Building, a 37,000 square foot former nursing home, to accommodate program space needs and add medical respite care. The total cost to purchase ($3,300,000) and renovate ($1,406,500) the facility is approximately $4.7 million. The Servant Center has funding commitments of about $2.9 million and is actively pursuing several other funding opportunities. The Servant Center expects the new facility to be operational in spring 2025.
The operation of the Servant House veteran beds will continue being funded through the VA's Grant Per Diem program. The Servant Center has been awarded these funds for more than 20 years and is in good standing with the VA. Operation of the medical respite beds will come from Medicaid expansion funds.
The Servant Center Board of Directors is requesting $1 million from Guilford County to support the purchase of the Holden Heights property, contingent upon an environmental assessment and raising the rest of the funds to purchase the building. The Board is also requesting an additional $500,000 towards renovation of the property during Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (County Staff recommendations is to include this request in the County’s Community Based Organization funding process for FY 2024-25).
end
BUDGET IMPACT
Budget Impact
General Fund
Reallocate Existing Homelessness Taskforce Funds
($1,000,000) Set-aside for Center for Hope and Healing
$1,000,000 The Servant Center - Holden Heights Building Purchase
end
REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Approve an appropriation of $1,000,000 to The Servant Center to support the purchase of the Holden Heights property, contingent upon the Center raising the rest of the funds to purchase the building and authorize staff to execute all necessary agreements and contracts. The $1,000,000 for The Servant Center will be funded from the $2 million of Homelessness Task Force funds set aside by the Board of Commissioners for the Center for Hope and Healing Project.
Incorporate The Servant Center’s $500,000 request for renovation funds into the FY 2024-25 Community Based Organizations funding process for consideration by the Board of Commissioners during the FY 2024-25 budget process.
end