More help for the

homeless: Deed is

done for the House
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The Hospitality House of Boone moved one step closer to a new home when Watauga County transferred nearly two acres of property to the homeless shelter.

Hospitality House has been planning to consolidate its operations for several years, currently using three downtown Boone facilities to meet local shelter needs. The shelter has been at capacity for the past year, offering more than 15,000 nights of bed stays, and the new facility will essentially provide beds for twice as many clients.

The county transferred the deed to 1.9 acres in the Bamboo community to the shelter in a ceremony at the county administration building Thursday afternoon. Hospitality House director Lynne Mason said after the ceremony, “It’s an exciting adventure. We’re working with an architect and completing a feasibility study for a capital campaign.”

The architect’s original proposal was for a 20,000-square foot facility, though Mason said that could be scaled back, calling it necessary to meet increased demand but not extravagant.

The new facility will have 70 beds, which Mason said would be a mix of emergency beds, transitional housing and some permanent-housing beds.

The Hospitality House board of directors will review the future of three existing buildings in downtown Boone and will sell the properties, though they may be sold with a short-term lease agreement to ensure the shelters can continue to operate in the short term. Besides the main shelter on King Street, Hospitality House operates the Rock Annex and the Sleeping Place.

“We have three old and difficult-to-maintain buildings,” Mason said, adding the properties were currently undergoing appraisal.

That value will be used to augment the capital campaign of an expected $4 million, which Mason said would also be met through grants and fund raising.

The new facility will have a commercial kitchen to support the Bread of Life soup kitchen currently operating out of what Mason characterized as a typical residential-size kitchen.

“It’s far from efficient,” she said, noting the kitchen serves an average of 200 meals a day. Since the new site will neighbor the Hunger Coalition, services will be coordinated so that each agency can work cooperatively.

Bread of Life focuses primarily on providing warm meals while the Hunger Coalition provides staples and meals that clients can prepare at home.

“We get food from the Second Harvest Food Bank,” Mason said. “We served 73,000 meals a day last year, which includes a snack each day. We try not to duplicate services with the Hunger Coalition. We look forward to being neighbors with them because I think we’ll be able to coordinate our efforts and provide services not covered by other programs.”

The main emergency shelter in downtown Boone has a capacity of 17, and there are 18 transitional beds. Mason said the shelter had been at capacity for the entire last year, with additional emergency beds sometimes found on cold nights.

Transitional housing has become more important because of the declining economy. “Transitional services give clients time to find housing that’s affordable,” Mason said.

“Our experience is it can take up to two years for someone to raise enough money to save down payments, deposits and first month’s rent. There’s been a real slowdown in Section 8 (federal housing) vouchers, and even when they come available, it’s hard to find affordable housing.”

Hospitality House hopes to forge alliances with Appalachian State University and Caldwell Community and Technical Institute, which has a continuing education center near the Bamboo site.

“We hope to use the kitchen for training purposes with the high demand in the hospitality industry,” Mason said, envisioning community volunteers and interns who get training in food handling and service coordination. “We’d also like to add a computer training program to help people be able to get higher-wage jobs.”

The shelter will also house WeCAN, which provides community support services such as heating assistance. A separate shelter area will be designated for families with children.

The county commissioners approved the transfer of the land contingent upon its remaining a homeless shelter. If the shelter closes, the property will revert to the county.

“We’re thrilled the county is working with us and we really appreciate the transfer of this land,” Mason said.
“The optimist in me would like to see it finished by the end of 2009 or early 2010. That would be the year Hospitality House turns 25 years old.”