Dozens move into supportive housing as Meck. County works to aid aging homeless population

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - More than two dozen people will move into their new homes in south Charlotte on Wednesday, more than a year after the project got underway.

Mecklenburg County leaders bought a motel off Arrowood Road last year and turned it into affordable housing.

After facing the COVID-19 pandemic, county leaders created a better plan to help chronically homeless people find permanent housing, purchasing the former TownePlace motel as part of that plan.

The county is partnering with Roof Above, a nonprofit that will manage the property, to put the plan in action and to serve the most vulnerable.

Twenty-seven people will be transitioning to this supportive housing property, most of whom are 55 years old or older.

The facility will provide medical care and social services to those who are chronically homeless, and fits into the county’s framework to provide more housing to those who need it most.

Community leaders said they intentionally set the project up for older community members, because they know the homeless community is aging and they want to provide them with necessary assistance.

“It’s giving people a safe place to live, it’s giving people more consistency and giving people more of that case management...that support,” Karen Pelletier of the Mecklenburg County Community Support Services said. “Helping people get reconnected with family members, that’s been a big thing we’ve been able to do at other supporting housing units as well.”

The project is entering Phase 1, with Phase 2 to begin next year and provide housing to an additional 50 people.

Related: Charlotte city leaders vote to approve two affordable housing projects

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