Wilmington weighs support for Living Hope Day Center
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The future of a downtown Wilmington day shelter serving people experiencing homelessness could soon depend on support from city leaders.
During Tuesday night’s Wilmington City Council meeting, the future of the Living Hope Day Center became part of a broader discussion surrounding housing and homelessness initiatives in the city. Shelter leaders are now seeking additional funding to continue operations as the organization faces financial and logistical challenges.
The Living Hope Day Center has exhausted funding previously received through the New Hanover Community Endowment and will also soon need to leave its current location at First Baptist Church as renovations begin.
Wilmington business owner Tom Harris urged city leaders to help support the center, saying additional local investment could encourage broader community backing.
“I met with Mary Vail some weeks ago with the endowment, and she said for the endowment to help them that she needs to see the city and the county and private business at the table, and I’m willing to donate more money to be the private business at the table, but we need to get the city and the county at the table,” said Harris.
Harris told council members the center only has enough funding to remain open through mid- to late June.
Councilwoman Salette Andrews said she wants homelessness initiatives to be treated as a concrete budget priority rather than an ongoing discussion.
“If you don’t have a timeline and you don’t have a budget, you really don’t have a project. You have a wish, you have a dream, but you really don’t have a dedicated project,” said Andrews.
City Manager Betty Hawke said staff members have already begun discussing possible funding sources that could potentially be redirected to support the effort.
“Councilmember Andrews, I did have a conversation with Rachel Shuler about your request today, and we believe that there are opportunities to earmark some existing pots of money for that purpose that we can bring more information forward to you at the next work session,” said Hawke.
The discussion comes as the center has repeatedly warned about its financial outlook.
Two weeks ago, WWAY visited the Living Hope Day Center while meals were being served to members of the homeless community. During that visit, CEO Tony Perez described the center’s situation as increasingly urgent.
“We are in a dire situation as funds, funds do continue to come in, but not the sustaining numbers that we need, so we have a short run array of a few months or so, but we’re fast approaching a really critical problem,” said Perez.
The Wilmington City Council is scheduled to meet again on June 4 and June 18. But for Living Hope Day Center leaders, officials say time may be running short, as the shelter could exhaust its remaining funding before those discussions take place.
