Charlotte hotel riddled with bugs, mold asks for pandemic aid for redevelopment
When the Southern Comfort Inn in west Charlotte closed earlier this year, 200 people relying on the motel for housing didn’t know where to turn.
Several months later, new plans could transform the extended-stay hotel riddled with bugs and mold into transitional housing. The nonprofit Freedom Community Outreach is requesting $1.7 million to redevelop the inn as the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County discuss where to allocate remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from COVID-19.
“We really need our city and county to step up,” said property manager Traci Jones.
Twenty-two people are still living in the inn on Tuckaseegee Road despite ongoing mold and insect problems and its closure this summer. Project manager April Benson has a vision to create program-based transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.
But the vision doesn’t stop at keeping a roof over the folks who call Southern Comfort home: Freedom Community Outreach wants to provide mental health services, substance abuse treatment and financial literacy classes to help people become independent and get housing outside of the inn. They’ve also created an in-house program called Freedom Outreach Cafe, where people staying at Southern Comfort can get job training and work experience, which helps gets residents on track to self-sufficiency, Benson said.
”You can work for your housing,” Benson said. ”We can assist you with your housing and these job trainings, but you still have to make sure that you’re going to your appointments and all those kinds of things.”
Along with jobs at the cafe, some inn residents earn their stay as housekeepers and cleaning rooms, Benson said.
The nonprofit also is interested in building modular homes out of repurposed shipping containers — a trend in the housing sphere to create more units for an affordable price.
Millions of American Rescue Plan Act dollars up for grabs
Mecklenburg County received $108 million in early October in a new round of ARPA funds designated for affordable housing and homelessness projects.
ARPA is a federal stimulus bill passed in March 2021 to be used for pandemic-response expenditures, revenue shortfalls and to support those hardest hit by COVID-19. Mecklenburg County commissioners approved an ordinance Oct. 6 agreeing to use their allocation for those purposes.
The county is accepting applications for funding until Nov. 27. Freedom Community Outreach is just one of the organizations seeking financial support.
“We want to do better, but we cannot do better without you,” Benson said during a recent county meeting, flanked by people from the inn. “I want you to see my face and those that are up here and know that we want to continue to do what’s necessary.”
The county has already allocated $8 million of its initial round of ARPA funding, which was also $108 million, toward housing and homelessness. It included:
▪ $750,000 for stable housing and support for 42 formerly incarcerated people.
▪ $1 million for land acquisition for 16 Habitat for Humanity homes.
▪ $300,000 for transitional housing at Pineville Neighbors Place.
▪ $1.3 million for improving Roof Above’s emergency men’s shelter.
▪ $3 million for preserving land in Smithville.
▪ $992,000 for expanding the Housing CLT program.
▪ $719,000 for three new staffing positions for homeless prevention services.
Other sectors receiving county ARPA funding include workforce development, economic development, childcare, early childhood development, parks, environment, infrastructure, behavioral health and health equity, which have collectively received about $50 million from the county in ARPA funds so far.
The City of Charlotte has $110 million in available ARPA funding, with $39 million set aside for housing. The City Council was expected to receive an ARPA funding update at its meeting Monday night, but it was deferred to next year, said council member Dimple Ajmera.
While Benson said she needs $1.7 million to complete her vision for the Southern Comfort Inn, even a half-million dollars would go a long way toward redevelopment. She cited prices of labor and supplies skyrocketing as a major roadblock.
“With $500,000, we can continue to get the property upgraded and rooms back in order,” Benson said. “People are trying to survive. We’re providing services with $0.”
Weekly and monthly rates
In 2007, Southern Comfort started offering weekly and monthly rates and began acting more like an apartment complex than a hotel, Jones said. Motels, unlike some homeless shelters, often allow families to stay together and bring belongings.
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After nearly two years of city leaders and nonprofits attempting to help the inn stay open, residents were told earlier this year they had just a month to move.
The hotel reported its impending closure to the city in May. Its residents lived in rooms infested with bedbugs, roaches, mold, fallen ceilings and unusable toilets and sinks, among other maintenance problems, The Charlotte Observer reported in early June. It accrued fines of $100 per day because of complaints about broken appliances, water damage and insect infestations, city records show.
Jones notified the city in June the business had no money to make further repairs and resolve complaints filed with city code enforcement. Last month, Jones’ letter to the Charlotte City Council said too many residents are severely behind on rent payments and the business can’t pay its bills.
The United Way of Central Carolinas helped most Southern Comfort residents find housing, but 22 stayed behind in the neglected inn.
“We’re fixing to go into winter,” Benson said, “People are sleeping in their cars or they pull over here on our property to sleep. They know this is a safe place.”
Organizations in Mecklenburg County seeking ARPA funding can visit mecknc.gov/covidrelief or email ARPA@mecknc.gov.
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
