BY DEBBIE PAGE

Local nonprofits and government agencies are working to help residents of the Brookwood Inn who are in danger of becoming homeless when the motel closes at the end of the month.

The Brookwood Inn, which is located in Statesville’s Newtowne Shopping Center, is slated for demolition to make room for redevelopment. 

Brookwood residents were informed of the motel’s August 31 closing date in late July. Agencies working with residents report that the owner is trying to expedite people out even sooner, even though they are legally entitled to 30 days notice.

Pam Navey, a longtime homeless advocate and chair of the Iredell County Homeless Collaborative, has agreed to a short-term contract with the Fifth Street Ministries board to lead the nonprofit’s efforts to assist residents.

Incoming Fifth Street Executive Director Tamara Roach said the nonprofit is collaborating with Restoration Road Ministry Inc. (RRMI) and its Acts of Kindness subdivision, which focuses on seeking safe living situations for single parents and their children.

Speaking at the August 6 Homeless Collaborative meeting, Roach said it will take heart and heavy lifting from all the Homeless Collaborative members to do this hard but deeply important work.

“I’m honored to be walking along so many dedicated organizations who are committed to ensuring dignity and housing stability for our neighbors,” she said.

The Fifth Street Board of Directors felt strongly that the organization needed to support those affected by the closure of Brookwood Inn in this community-wide emergency response effort.

All the Homeless Collaborative’s members are working to make a difference for the Brookwood Inn residents. 

“Our goal is to provide support to the individuals and families from Brookwood as they are transitioning into housing of their own, ensuring that hotel living is not their only option in the future,” Roach said.

RRMI Executive Director Rob Harris said his nonprofit, as of Wednesday afternoon, has already moved 18 of the 24 families into a transitional or stable permanent living situation.

That still leaves six families, in addition to 35 individuals residing in the motel, in need of placement.

“The majority of all the guests at Brookwood are gainfully employed, taxpaying people who work every day to stay afloat and protect their families. For people who live paycheck to paycheck, this is a devastating circumstance that they are dealing with in real time,” said Harris.

The Partners Health Management housing assistance team, Pamela Hinton and Teena Willis, are also working with Harris, Acts of Kindness director Denise Sharrow, and Navey to go door-to-door to meet with Brookwood’s remaining families and all individual residents by Friday to learn about residents’ unique circumstances and needs to determine any assistance Partners and other agencies can provide.

Navey pledged to work quickly and diligently to help these community members and to develop contingency plans for those still not placed in housing by August 31.

Those who already receive Partners services, are military veterans, are weather displaced (Hurricane Helene) or have other situations may be eligible for Statesville Housing Authority or other agency, state, or federal help.

“We and our sister ministries are doing all we can to help these families,” said Harris. “The families are well known to us and have been vetted. There are over 60 rooms occupied, but the families are our number one priority. We will continue the work started here past the motel’s closing. There are many families in area motels, so we are starting a division of our ministry to help all these families transition into affordable housing.”

Harris noted that he is asking for legal help, including sending a letter to N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson, to protect the residents’ legal rights.

The community can help.

“We need your help. We need your donations,” said Harris, who noted it costs about $3,000 to get a family into an apartment with first and last month’s rent, damage deposits, and utility deposits.

“There are so many families out there that are homeless; there are over 500 homeless children in our community. Your support is needed now more than ever.”

“We will have to raise money to help the families who cannot fully pay for another motel room, as the motel rooms other than Brookwood Inn are much higher, many do not allow children, and, let’s be honest, unless you are able to pay more, they are very unsafe.”

Residents are currently paying $1300 per month for their room at Brookwood Inn.

“Our community has to get much better at helping poor families and giving them affordable housing. We have to cater to them also because they are needed; they do the jobs that help support others and keep our businesses open,” Harris said.

Dispersing the families across the city will logistically make it more difficult getting them the services they often need, including childcare, afterschool care by the YMCA, DSS help, food assistance, and case management. Some children may also have to change schools in addition to their housing upheaval.

Partners Supportive Housing and EverNine Placement can offer housing opportunities to individual residents willing to relocate other areas.

Iredell County Community Response Support Team Peer Support Specialist Terri Blankenship is communicating with landlords in Iredell and Catawba counties to seek housing and also said that some area recovery and sober living houses had availability for individuals if that type of support is needed.

Homeless Coalition partners are also assisting with counseling, substance use disorder treatment, food, job assistance and training, childcare, and case management.

Because of this emergency situation, the Homeless Collaborative will meet again next week to continue discussion of residents’ needs and coordinate assistance efforts.

How You Can Help

To help families at Brookwood Inn find stable housing:

♦ Community members can donate to by sending a check to Restoration Road Ministry, Inc. at P.O. Box 486, Statesville, NC 28687. One hundred percent of these tax deductible donations flows directly to those RRM serves since there is no paid administration or overhead for this grassroots organization, run by over 30 dedicated volunteers.

♦ Folks can also stop by Brookwood Inn to donate, Venmo or PayPal to Denise-Sharrow, director of Acts of Kindness, to actsofkindness57@gmail.com.

♦ Community members also can donate online to Fifth Street Ministries, using the dedication section to designate the donation to the “Brookwood residents housing transition,” at https://www.fifthstreetministries.com/donations/. Checks can be sent to Fifth Street Ministries at PO Box 5217, Statesville, NC 28687, with “Brookwood residents” in the memo section so that 100 percent of the donation goes toward this emergency situation.

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