Here’s a look inside the new men’s shelter in Charlotte opening today
Roof Above on Wednesday opened the Howard Levine Men’s Shelter, a new 164-bed shelter on its Statesville Avenue property.
The nearly $5 million project has more private sleeping spaces, with two-person pods to provide more social distancing space.
Among the most exciting additions is the kitchen, which will serve hot meals daily, Roof Above CEO Liz Clasen-Kelly said. The other Statesville building did not have a kitchen, so meals had to be prepared at Roof Above’s Tryon Street site, packaged up and delivered. Dishes then had to be returned to Tryon Street to be washed.
The new space also has office space for residents to work with staff on housing, employment and other programs. Having these services readily accessible to residents is crucial, Clasen-Kelly said.
“We always look for how we can lower barriers on people’s journey out of homelessness,” she said. “One way to lower barriers is to have services available on site.”
Latest expansion at Roof Above
Roof Above announced plans to build a new Statesville Avenue location in January 2020 to replace the aging existing shelter on the same property. The project broke ground in May 2020.
The Lucille Giles Center next door will continue to operate as an overnight shelter for up to 116 men at least through March.
It comes as housing advocates fear a new wave of homelessness with the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium and scarce affordable housing in Charlotte. In Mecklenburg County 3,150 people are homeless, according to county data.
The new facility is named for Howard R. Levine, the former chairman/CEO of Family Dollar Stores whose namesake foundation was a major donor to the shelter project.
It’s one of several new facilities from Roof Above in recent years.
Roof Above’s other men’s shelter location on North Tryon Street reopened in 2018 after a nearly five-month, $5.8 million renovation, the Observer previously reported. That remodel expanded its capacity from 200 to 230 beds.
The organization last year also bought an 88-room hotel on Clanton Road, which is under renovation to become supportive housing units, as well as a 341-unit apartment complex in east Charlotte with affordable units and supportive housing.
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