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The Zion Shelter and Kitchen has been located at 114 W. Martin Luther King Drive for over 30 years. Recently, the shelter’s board of directors was gifted a piece of property by Kingdom Distributors at its current location, 418 N. Brown Street, the former site of the old shirt factory. The board’s proposed plan is to build a new 6,500 sq. ft. building, which will provide shelter for up to 20 men and a soup kitchen.

The facility would also include a day treatment area and three conference rooms.

“We simply have outgrown the current space,” said Reverend James Moore, shelter board chair and Executive Director of Metropolitan Housing and CDC. “The current location doesn’t have the structure that I like for the new model that we want to implement, and the cost to stay there would be very expensive. I’ve been looking for a new location for the shelter and kitchen for the last ten years, but because of zoning issues, we have encountered numerous roadblocks, which have made it very difficult to find a new location. My company, Kingdom Distributors, gifted the property, which is zoned I2, medium industrial, which opened the door for the relocation.”

Moore added that he knew if they decided to move to the proposed location, their services would have to be program-based. The new service model is designed specifically for veterans, young men aging out of foster care, and people with disabilities. It would no longer be there just to provide a roof over their heads for the night but to provide services to give them a sense of belonging to the community.

“This program will help to provide these residents with housing, job placement, employability skills, transportation, food stability, medical/mental health services, financial literacy, and other barriers they may face,” said Darwin Woolard, senior project manager. “The residents must join the shelter’s community program to receive these services. Each must work on a job site or work towards earning a certification during the day, which will include classes provided onsite by Beaufort County Community College. They will work on employability skills and financial literacy during the evenings. Each will undergo extensive background checks and drug screenings, and no known sex offenders will be allowed into the program.”

Woolard and Moore also pointed out that the new shelter will be transitional and not intended for permanent residency. “If an individual needs more than the allotted time of 120 days to get back on their feet, they will enter another transitional setting,” said Woolard. “They can move into a small studio apartment where they will start paying their own bills and continue to receive the same services. The last step is to transition them into their own apartment or house and independent living.”

This vision was shared on Wednesday night with a group of residents who live near the proposed new location during a public information session to answer any questions and address any concerns they might have.

The majority were very supportive of the need for a new shelter and would support efforts to find a new location. But they also shared many of the same questions and concerns. Why is the shelter is moving, why this particular location, and whether other options have been explored? However, the underlying concerns of the majority of the 12 residents in attendance were safety and their perception of the disruption it would cause to the neighborhood.

Residents Jamie Wagner and Barbara Berry were the most forthcoming in articulating what many others were expressing throughout the meeting. “More than any kind of visual thing, I’m more concerned about the safety of my family and my neighbors,” said Wagner. “My husband and I have a four-year-old daughter, and many of my neighbors are elderly. This just increases the probability that something will happen to them. Having residents rotate in and out every 120 days and the homeless coming to the soup kitchen daily will bring a lot of unstable individuals trying to get on their feet into the neighborhood and will put everyone at risk. This all sounds like a great plan in theory, but you don’t have the previous experience of making something like this work. We would probably have to move if this happens because it would be too risky for our family to stay here.”

“As much as we are all in favor of a shelter and think it is a wonderful thing, I’m not wild about it being put right here in our neighborhood,” said Berry. “We have lived in our home for 55 years, and we don’t want to sell or leave. We like our quiet little community, and it is hard to envision what you are talking about and it not bringing more noise and increased vehicle and people traffic. So, regardless of how successful you are, it is still going to change our neighborhood.”

Moore tried to reassure the residents that if his name is on it, it is going to be organized and structured and that he hears and understands their concerns.

“I will do everything in my power to ensure you all are safe,” said Moore. “I believe in sewing seeds. For the past three years, we have been cultivating relationships in the City of Washington and other neighboring cities and counties. The reason is I can’t do this by myself. No one can operate in isolation and expect to be successful. If you have the wrap-around services needed, vet the residents, collaborate with community partners who ensure all ponies are being adhered to, and have case managers and volunteers all doing their work, it can be a beautiful program. If we don’t do something soon, there will be a lot of homeless wandering the streets. We have to fix the problem in some shape or form because what we have now is not working.”

On December 12 at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, the Washington Board of Adjustments will consider the request to issue a special use permit for the shelter. Another meeting with the neighborhood residents will be scheduled before that meeting.