CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — A report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors this month shows a 21 percent increase in the number of homeless families in Charlotte.
At the Salvation Army's Center of Hope on Spratt Street, Director of Social Services Deronda Metz showed Eyewitness News where women sleep on cots on their dining room floor.
"We thought serving 100, 120 children was a lot," Metz said. "This year, our numbers were like 170."
Beverly Brown-Jackson is homeless and sees the overcrowding first hand.
"There's no seats to sit anywhere," she said of the numbers of women and children at the shelter. "They're just standing up -- a lot of children, babies crying. It's very overcrowded."
In fact, the center has started new rules. Women outside of Mecklenburg County can stay for only two weeks, though they do not turn away victims of domestic violence.
"Our first priority is families, and it's families from our area," Metz said.
Metz said the center is moving closer to launching a rapid re-housing program in 2012. She just got back from Columbus, Ohio, to learn from its program.
"It's a part of the new national strategic plan to end homelessness," Metz said.
Carson Dean, Executive Director of the Men's Shelter of Charlotte, has seen record numbers too.
"Just after Thanksgiving, we had an all-time high of 683 men in one night," Dean said.
The shelter has taken the lead with its own re-housing program.
"In the last two years, we've moved over 500 men out of the shelter and into housing," Dean said. "This year, we're hoping to match that two-year number in one year."
Metz said her program would subsidize rent for homeless families with employment or employment prospects. She said it's one the biggest solutions to combat the growing need.
"A huge part of that is getting people out the back door, meaning getting people into housing," Metz said.
WSOC
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