After months of scrutiny, GSO’s Interactive Resource Center director resigns, new interim director announced

Featured photo: The IRC is a day shelter for the unhoused in Greensboro that has been open since 2008. (photo by Sayaka Matsuoka)

On Tuesday morning, a press release by the Interactive Resource Center, Greensboro’s day center for the unhoused, announced that there would be a change in leadership at the organization.

According to the release, Executive Director Kristina Singleton is resigning from the organization and Bennita Curtain, the IRC’s director of programs since 2023, will be stepping in as interim executive director.

“I wanted to support our guests and staff through the shift from 24/7 hours back to our original day center model, and we have accomplished that,” Singleton states in the release. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the IRC for nearly a decade, and I remain as committed to its mission as ever. Moving forward, the IRC will look to strengthen our ties with the community and build new partnerships, and Bennita is well positioned to do just that.”

Singleton has worked at the IRC since 2016.

The change in leadership at the organization comes at a time when there has been increased scrutiny and some controversy around the center.

In the past year, city council paused funding for the center, citing a temporary spike in crime and subsequent 911-calls made to the center due to an increase in operation hours.

Since then, the calls for emergency services have subsided but the stress on the center’s services caused the organization to scale back its hours from the 24/7 model back to its original mission of just being a day center.

The heightened scrutiny from city officials, nearby businesses and community members prompted the organization’s staff — including Singleton and Curtain — to hold a community town hall in early October. There, staff answered questions from attendees on safety at the center, new measures to promote safety — including metal detectors and a new ID-card system — as well as plans for future amenities.

The organization will continue to operate the Doorway Project, an outdoor temporary Pallet shelter community which offers housing during the coldest months of the year from November to March for about 80 individuals.

For many in the unhoused community, the Interactive Resource Center remains the only place to access necessary services such as laundry, showers and a place to charge their phones. Others have noted negative experiences at the center in more recent months, citing crime and a lack of personal safety.

Still, those who remain committed to the center’s mission note how the organization is the only low-barrier operation in the city that helps unhoused people. Other organizations like the Greensboro Urban Ministry do not allow people who may have substance use issues to access their services.

This has caused the IRC to be the first stop for those experiencing homelessness in the city, leading to an increase in people served.

According to the release, “the IRC has experienced record-breaking demand, serving 8,107 people since January – October 2024, a more than 60 percent increase from the previous 12 months.”

Those numbers reflect patronage that is “higher than at any point in the IRC’s history” and points to a “lack of available resources, including the absence of beds available when Doorway micro-home community isn’t operating,” the release stated.

Moving forward, Curtain said that the organization will continue working for and with the unhoused community to offer a wide array of services.

“One of the most important plans as we look to the future is to continue listening. Listening to our guests. Listening to our neighbors. Listening to our partners. Listening to our funders,” Curtain said in the release. “We believe that true solutions come from collaboration and understanding. By staying attuned to the needs and concerns of everyone involved, we can build better systems of care and improve outcomes for those experiencing homelessness.”