WILMINGTON, N.C. — Across the state, shelters are overwhelmed with unhoused individuals seeking a place to sleep. Shelters like Relive Recovery in Raleigh and Roof Above in Charlotte are seeing an increase in the amount of people in need of their services.
In Wilmington, the area’s largest homeless encampment was vacated Wednesday, and now, nearly 100 individuals are wondering where to go from here.
What You Need To Know
- On Oct. 18, Wilmington’s largest homeless encampment was forced to vacate, and anyone still on the property is trespassing
- Good Shepherd offers both a day and night shelter as well as services to help individuals meet basic needs
- Good Shepherd has a goal of helping individuals overcome obstacles to secure and retain housing
Area shelters are at capacity, including Good Sheperd’s night shelter, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help. The organization has plenty of services to offer its guests, including help finding permanent housing.
Every time the bell rings at Good Shepherd in Wilmington, everyone in the building knows someone among them has found permanent housing. It’s a goal Good Shepherd hopes all of its guests can achieve.
Katrina Knight, the executive director of Good Shepherd, helps make that dream a reality, and it starts with providing a place to stay.
“So this is one of our two shelters, dorms, for single gentlemen,” Knight said. “We have an additional one for ladies, and then of course, families have their own individual rooms.”
But it’s so much more than that. Good Shepherd also works with individuals to overcome obstacles to secure and retain housing.
“We have the ability to do a lot more for our neighbors in crisis than just keep them alive overnight,” Knight said. “You know we really can help them back on a path to that improved physical health, mental health and overall wellbeing that come with having housing again.”
Good Shepherd also offers a day shelter and many services that can help keep its guests happy and healthy.
“So they can come and get a shower here, they can use the clothing closet, bathrooms, restrooms, phone use, they can use us as their mailing address,” Knight explained. “And of course, our soup kitchen is open to them so hot meals, that are very nutritious, well balanced and substantial so that we’re not just getting them through the next hour or two, but hopefully really kind of storing up their nutrition as well.”
With the amount of people in need of food and shelter on the rise since the pandemic, these services are more important than ever.
“We went from sheltering 30, to 50 and eventually 75,” Knight said. “And now, for many months, right at about 100 adults and children is unfortunately a norm.”
On Wednesday, nearly 100 individuals who were staying at the largest homeless encampment in New Hanover County were forced to vacate, and many are left wondering where they’ll go. Although Good Shepherd is currently at capacity with its night shelter, it's ready to help in any other way it can.
The organization is also working to increase the amount of people it can shelter while also creating additional affordable housing units.
“The Carolina Beach Raod property, it will actually be a housing development, rental apartments for chronically homeless folks with disabilities, so 32 of those single individuals will live there at any one time,” Knight explained. “Across the street is gonna be a combination of activites all under one roof so we’ll have more space for direct services by our staff, we’ll have a family shelter that instead of accommodating four families at one time, we hope to serve at least six if not eight families at any one time.”
For Knight and the rest of the Good Shepherd team, it’s about being able to help these individuals not only temporarily, but permanently as well. Being able to hear that bell ring and know that the guests are moving on makes it all worth it.
“Every transition to housing is more difficult than its ever been,” Knight said. “But I think for a lot of our team, those are a lot of the days that really keep us going.”
Good Shepherd expects its Carolina Beach Road project to break ground within the next year. The project will increase the amount of individuals it can provide with permanent supportive housing, something Good Shepherd considers the best practice strategy for ending homelessness.
Related Links
- For a list of shelters in the Wilmington area, click here
- For a list of shelters in the Raleigh area, click here
- For a list of shelters in the Charlotte area, click here
- For a list of shelters in the Asheville area, click here