Salvation Army Center of Hope..They are a great resource for single women and women with children. You can find other programs on this website for women but they are all one-tenth the size of Salvation Army’s center. They can house up to 300 women and children. They serve over 25000 people a year! They are regularly at or close to capacity. To increase their capacity, they bought an old hotel and began renovations. As often happens during renovations hidden problems can drastically increase the time it takes to finish the job. That’s what’s happening at their expansion site called Booth Commons. It’s not clear at this time when it’ll be open but when it does it will drastically increase their capacity for shelter. And for several reasons, including the fact that children are involved, booze and drugs are banned.
Like most other emergency shelters, they want to make sure you’re in Mecklenburg County’s C.E. (Coordinated Entry) system before accepting you in. So be SURE to go to C.E. first. You can also just stop by Salvation Army and talk to the Coordinated Entry person stationed there. They are very compassionate there and do everything they can to avoid having you sleep outside. There may be no open beds, so you’ll still have to call C.E. back every day until one opens up. But again, Salvation Army is very committed to keeping women and young families off the street at night.
Tap this link for all the info on C.E. Of course you can call C.E. (at 704-284-9665), but it can take up to 2 days to get a return call. C.E. maintains a list of vulnerable people who have called or dropped by to see if a bed has become available. * It’s not enough just to get your name in the Coordinated Entry database. You will need to get an assessment. Those are normally done on-site at Salvation Army. Even though Roof-Above is primarily a men’s shelter, as a woman you can also get an assessment done there at their Resource Center. See our Coordinated Entry page for all your best options and strategy.
Once you finally get the referral/clearance from C.E. you will get on Salvation Army’s next-available-opening list. Also, Salvation Army has some space for fathers with children but there’s a wait for that space too. In emergency weather conditions, (freezing temperatures) they can accept “walk-up” residents to stay on mats in their dining area for one night only.
Once you are in their program, they will provide three meals a day. They will reserve your bed for up to 3 nights. 90 days is the usual maximum stay length although that can be extended sometimes. and you will have access to a case manager but that can take up to a month at this point. If you’ve tapped on the case manager link in the previous sentence, then you know that a case manager can be your key to ending homelessness. In addition to sheltering you, they will work with C.E., your case manager and the Rapid ReHousing program to get you into a long term housing situation. To get there, take the #21 CATS bus and get off at the corner of Tryon and Dalton streets. Or take the #22 and get off at Graham and Dalton. Then walk west to 534 Spratt St.
* C.E. can’t keep a wait list because things change so much for everyone on a daily basis. But… they try to be compassionate and balance a first come first served approach with the severity of need.