CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Parker's House Foundation, a local nonprofit that works with at-risk veterans, already offers computer training and GED classes at a west Charlotte center, but Grady Parker Jr. has bigger plans: he wants to transform a hotel into a center for homeless veterans.
Parker has his sights set on the old Microtel Inn on Sugar Creek Road.
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"Here, they will be able to stay," he said. "They will be able to live, to work on some issues they have and also -- but most of all -- they will be able to get back into the job force."
Parker said he plans to screen homeless veterans for substance abuse, feed them, counsel them and train them. The facility would house 60-90 veterans.
To make his vision into a reality, he has to raise $60,000 for a lease on the hotel by June 25.
"It's not a whole lot of money, but when you don't have it, it's like trying to ask for $2 million," Parker said.
Parker said if he misses the deadline, he'll lose everything he's invested so far.
He has applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, but won't know if the organization will receive the money until October.