GSO’s IRC homeless center is reducing its hours after pushback from city leaders. Where will patrons go to sleep as the temperatures drop?

The Interactive Resource Center is cutting back its hours.

Since January, when city leaders gave the IRC funding so that they could extend their hours to 24/7, the center has been acting as an overnight shelter. On any given day, dozens of people sleep on the center’s floors to escape the elements outside. But the center’s expansion of hours hasn’t been without its problems. Since the beginning of the year, thousands in need have poured through the organization’s doors which led to a temporary increase in 911 calls to the center and conflicts with surrounding business owners.

On Oct. 2, IRC leaders were asked to “develop a plan,” according to a press release sent out on Oct. 14. They were given two options: “scale down capacity or return to a day center model.” 

“After IRC evaluation of the two proposed options, returning to a day center will have the most positive impact for the community by serving the most amount of people in the most cost effective way,” the release states. “This is also a return to the IRC’s core mission.”

Starting on Nov. 1, the center will only be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. They will also install a fence around the perimeter to secure the campus after hours. 

“This is a difficult time for people experiencing homelessness in our community and we are committed to continuing to do everything we can to help those that need it most,” IRC executive director Kristina Singleton said in the release. 

For the third year in a row, the IRC will be running the Doorway Project, a city-funded program that houses people in 64-square-foot Pallet shelters during the coldest months of the year. This will provide 83 beds and will be the only winter operations provided by the IRC, operating from mid-November to March 2025.

The press release also noted the significant increase in service they’d been providing this year. The IRC served 771 people this September compared to 584 last September. Only 219 guests were served in September 2022.

Behind the scenes

In an Oct. 7 email Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan told District 3 councilmember Zack Matheny she had advised that the center cut back their hours during the Oct. 2 meeting.

“I told them that in my opinion, they should go back to being a day shelter,” she wrote in the email. “I told them that they needed to get a commitment from the county on funding. That we were not going to fund the whole cost and that I thought it was time for them to right size and go back to doing what they did.”

Vaughan also wrote that she “pushed” the IRC to install metal detectors. In an Oct. 3 email, City Manager Trey Davis connected IRC board chair Jim King and IRC director Kristina Singleton with Oak View Group’s Scott Johnson, who now runs the Greensboro Coliseum. 

Vaughan wrote in the Oct. 7 email, “I believe that they are in conversation with Scott about how the metal detectors work and how they would have to be manned.” 

Other emails between city leaders noted that they expected IRC leadership to employ off-duty law enforcement officers through the Greensboro Police Department and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office. 

Despite city leaders’ efforts, the Oct. 14 press release from the IRC stated that they decided they would “not implement armed guards or metal detectors.”

“As a low barrier facility, these actions are inconsistent with recognized best practices and are not compatible with the organization’s values,” the release stated. “Low barrier is designed to be more accessible, trauma informed and non-punitive.”

During an open town hall discussion on Oct. 1, IRC leadership reiterated this notion.

“We believe in community and community helps each other and polices each other,” Singleton said at the meeting. “Our status is to be low barrier and we don’t believe in criminalizing homelessness.”

What will happen to those who have been sleeping at the IRC?

In the press release, Singleton stated that the IRC returning to just a day center would  “initially present issues until the community adapts and can find alternatives after we close at 3 p.m.”

When this happens, Singleton said that the organization will “put all [their] focus on Doorway as it [is] the best winter option for people [they] serve.”

At the IRC, one unhoused resident, Phillip, told TCB that he isn’t happy there. He explained that he is homeless because he had a stroke, binding him to a wheelchair so he can’t work. The IRC is getting all of this money, but has “nothing to show for it,” he said, adding that the place is “not healthy.” People sleep on the floor overnight and there’s “nothing for the handicapped,” Phillip said.

Plus, he’s been robbed a few times, he said. He’s glad they’re cutting back on their hours because late at night is when the “cops show up.” He plans on moving to another city before the hours change next month. 

Diane, an unhoused IRC resident who has been homeless for about a year, said that when the hours change she hopes to move to a hotel. There’s “something new every day” at the IRC, she said. 

Other IRC residents feel that the hours should never have changed. That’s what Lo, who has been homeless for more than 10 years, said. They had “more resources” before. 

Lo, who has been sleeping at the IRC, hopes to move to a boarding house after the hours change. 

But other residents say that the IRC is “not bad.” And “not bad has been pretty good for me,” IRC resident Derekey said. When asked if he feels safe sleeping at the IRC at night, he responded, “I do.” 

He’s been homeless for around a month, and will have to look for a new place to stay at night by the time the hours change next month.

Beyond the IRC, changes within the city have posed additional problems to unhoused residents.

Sitting in Center City Park in downtown Greensboro on Oct.17, unhoused resident Mark Hermanowski referenced a new sign that he said had popped up in the park that morning.

“Food and resource distributions are no longer allowed, in or adjacent to the downtown parks including along Friendly Avenue or Elm Street, due to ongoing pedestrian safety and waste management concerns,” the sign reads. 

Many local organizations such as the Working-class and Houseless Organizing Alliance have distributed at the park for years, and were previously allowed to distribute along Friendly Avenue and Elm Street.

“Distributions may now be offered and reserved at two alternate locations,” the sign states. That’s City Hall’s plaza on Greene Street and Tiny House Community Development on West Gate City Boulevard.

“The city is going to ban the homeless altogether” from certain areas, Hermanowski worries.

Hermanowski, who doesn’t use the IRC, said  that he isn’t all that surprised that the center is reverting its hours.

“I’m glad they’re going back to the way it was, because them staying open 24 hours was just a breeding ground for trouble,” he told TCB. “It just got out of control.”

Ronald Harris and his girlfriend Lisa Everhart also said that they haven’t been using the center since they expanded their hours.

“I don’t go there, period,” he said. The times they have stayed there, Harris said that Everhart slept while he watched over her.

“It’s too crowded up there,” she said.

Everhart, who is diabetic and recently had surgery on her stomach, only goes to the IRC to pick up her mail and take a shower, she said.

“She’s sick real bad,” Harris said. He recently got out of prison, where he’d been serving a sentence since 1996.

“I got out Sept. 1, 2020. I’ve been homeless ever since,” Harris said.

He’s looking for a job, but hasn’t had much luck due to his criminal record.

“Anybody got a job washing dishes, anything?” he said.

Harris and Everhart told TCB that they’ve been waiting on motel vouchers for months.

And with winter right on their heels, Harris and Everhart are worried about what they’ll do, and where they’ll sleep at night when temperatures dip down.

“God will help us,” Harris said. “I’ve got a feeling, it’s just going to happen. We pray every day.”

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