Help! Tiny House Community Development needs your support for our HOPE Center- Homeless Outreach Prevention Empowerment. After being open for two years, we are temporarily closed since the city of Greensboro was not able to help fund the center and assist us in reaching those suffering from homelessness.

Aside from our guests being able to find relief from the cold, heat, rain or snow, the HOPE Center feeds 40 plus people a continental breakfast daily as well as 80 or more guests a hot breakfast on Saturday. The HOPE Center also helps individuals gain access to getting a current ID, obtain duplicate Social Security Card and Birth Certificates, food stamps, health insurance resources, medical provider connections, UNCG Minerva School of Nursing mobile bus, SS benefit assistance, job application assistance, free haircuts and barber assistance, mental health and substance abuse referrals, housing assessments, pallet shelter and housing navigation to help become housed in one of the city’s housing communities. Other programs offered throughout the morning are arts and crafts, bingo, guest speakers and organizations such as Guilford County DSS and others set up to assist guests.

These services are in high demand, and while the IRC provides critical support, they simply can’t meet the needs of everyone. That’s where we come in—helping to serve individuals who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

For instance, one guest came to us experiencing homelessness, sleeping on the streets. We connected him with shelter resources. He joined us regularly for our morning breakfasts and began to feel a sense of trust and belonging. Eventually, he expressed interest in our construction training program and enrolled in the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) course we offer at the HOPE Center. After graduating with the NCCER certification, he was able to secure a job with an area electrical company. Today, he’s employed, housed since he has an income, and thriving—all thanks to the supportive connection he found through the HOPE Center.

We have another guest who joined our workforce development team. She was living in her car, and it broke down. It was towed and she found herself living on the street before finding the HOPE Center. She came to the breakfasts and spoke with the social workers at the HOPE Center. When a morning counter position opened up at the HOPE Center, we were able to offer her both the job and a place to stay in one of our tiny houses. Now, she’s working, saving money, and planning for her future—with hopes of going back to school for accounting or starting her own food truck.

If it was not for the HOPE Center, these individuals would most likely still be on the streets, barely making it and living from day to day on a minimal existence and getting lost in the shuffle. The HOPE Center plays this vital role in supporting our downtown community by offering individuals in need a safe place to be and the ability to gain access to our resources— helping to reduce panhandling and loitering while fostering dignity and connection for everyone. We need your help to keep those suffering from homelessness from congregating on the streets, running out in traffic, lacking direction and purpose, and hindering economic prosperity for the continual revitalization of downtown Greensboro and offer them a new life in the right direction. We are going to politely ask the city to match or double everything that you donate to our GoFundMe to help keep the HOPE Center open for friends experiencing homelessness. Homelessness knows no boundary, creed, race or gender. Please donate today!