It has been a rocky road getting there this year; however, after a three-hour discussion at the Monday evening, Aug. 5 meeting of the Greensboro City Council, the council voted in favor of a motion to provide the Interactive Resource Center in downtown Greensboro with $463,000 in order to help accomplish the city’s ongoing goal of addressing the major problem of homelessness in Greensboro.
Unlike a lot of Greensboro City Council votes on the August 5 agenda, the funding for the Interactive Resource Center wasn’t a foregone conclusion: At a mid-July City Council meeting, the council members voted unanimously to postpone the decision on the proposed funding for the fiscal year – which started on July 1 – after a barrage of complaints regarding the facility and the actions of its users surfaced earlier in the calendar year.
Those who own businesses and residences in the surrounding area have expressed a flurry of concerns about fights around the facility, littering, noise and commotion and abusive behavior that some of the homeless users of the center have displayed toward business clients, college students using the transportation Depot and the residents in the area.
The center doesn’t offer beds for the homeless and it isn’t designed to be a place for the unhoused to sleep. Instead, it’s a place where the users can have computer and internet access, get personal hygiene items, clean up, shave and shower and get a hot meal.
The facility used to close down in the late afternoon every day; however, the Interactive Resource Center later added night hours as well and, after that, the number of complaints about the center rose to an alarming level. While there are no beds in the facility, it’s not uncommon to see people at the center sleeping in chairs or with their head resting on a wooden table at night or during the day.
While the behavior of the center’s users was a key topic of discussion once again at the August 5 City Council meeting, some advocates for the homeless community placed the blame squarely on the Greensboro City Council member.
One speaker said that the homeless problem was a “failure of the City Council to provide social welfare programs.” Instead, he said, the council chooses to spend large amounts of money to beef up and “militarize” the Greensboro Police Department.
“You complain incessantly about trash,” he said, “but you don’t hire more sanitation workers or put up more trash receptacles.”
The speaker added, “You have set up the IRC to fail,”
Others blamed the location of the center as inappropriate while others were critical of the IRC’s leadership.
One business leader referred to what he called an excellent and well-balanced article in Greensboro’s City Beat weekly newspaper that, he said, took into account all sides of the issue including the views of actual users of the facility.
He quoted those clients’ comments about IRC leadership.
One homeless person said, “They do nothing to help us,” while another was quoted as saying, “They ain’t running it right.”
The business owner said that, if the city was going to continue funding the facility, city leaders needed to make sure the money went to pay for services and not just to line the pockets of those running it. He added that a very high percentage of the city’s funding went to paying salaries at the IRC rather than establishing programs and services meant to help the homeless served at the center.
“You give them the money,” he said. “Make sure it is used for its intended purpose.”
At the meeting City of Greensboro staff was officially recommending and requesting that the City Council authorize a contract with Interactive Resource Center for Drop-in Center operations for the fiscal year 2024-2025. The agreement was initially the result of a competitive Request for Proposals the city conducted to “address housing and service needs of residents experiencing homelessness in our community.”
The application for the funding had been reviewed and evaluated by the City of Greensboro’s Proposal Review Committee and was it was scored and approved by staff for the amount of $463,000.
At the meeting, City Council members said that they truly hear the complaints from those who live and work in the area and they feel confident those issues can be mitigated.
At the Greensboro City Council’s July 16 meeting, the board unanimously voted to postpone a funding decision for the interactive resource center, largely citing safety concerns.
Since that meeting, leaders of the Resource Center and city staff have been discussing an action plan meant to address many of the problems and give city leaders confidence that the center can effectively carry out its assigned mission.
The IRC plans to, among other things, increase security at the facility and end a safe parking program that often led to people living out of their cars downtown.
Earlier this year, a letter from Guilford County Emergency Services informed the IRC staff that the medical response teams didn’t feel safe answering calls at the facility unless law enforcement backup accompanied them on the call or preceded them there.
While the funding was approved on August 5 for the fiscal year that ends on June 30, 2025, there are still many people who want to see the location moved, new leadership, and changes in strategy by the Greensboro City Council in the future.
Here they go again. Throw money at the problem and hope it goes away. Lets keep our hands clean and blame someone else. I wish I knew the answer for I am sure there may be a solution, but not with our current city council. They just do what gets them votes, which is throwing the money.
MOre will come, it will get worse.
now that it’s funded, the city can start to build vertically some housing in downtown Gboro. another scenario of not in my backyard
The city has been successful at making GSO a destination for the street people so the word on the street is go to GSO.
The council asked for a plan from the IRC. Where is it ???
My suggestion is come up with a plan to phase out the IRC…..but the employees would loose their jobs so there is no incentive to make it better. Bigger means more salaries and more problems.
The citizens of GSO have invested money in things like the Tanger Center to make our city better. Let some other city become the destination for street people. We need better leadership in our city government.
Same old smoke and mirrors. Your tax dollars not being managed. So when will Greensboro stop inviting the homeless to come here? Certainly hope you will think before you vote in the next election.
Throwing good money after bad without fixing the problems. The usual way of doing business in this burg. RIDICULOUS. No wonder our taxes are higher in Guilford County compared to other counties in NC. No wonder Greensboro/Guilford is referred to as corrupt. Elections have consequences. The current clowns need to be shown the door and their IRC needs to be shuttered.
Is it just me, or are the people who receive these free benefits – and complain about them – are just ungrateful?
Typical reaction.You cannot solve every problem by throwing money it.Madness.
If you build it, they will come…and trash it, drive the area into further degradation, send property values plummeting (which will cut down on taxes revenue), endanger the local businesses and property owners, and in general further enhance your appearance as All High Grand Council of the Chosen.
Did I say that?
we feed pigeons knowing they will schijt on our heads ? then reproduce.
I would hope that the IRC’s books will be open for inspection by the city; there seems to be little concern on ensuring any accountability on where the money goes.
I remember the “Rev. King”, and his charity, who conveniently committed suicide and the hard drive in his computer vanishing before it could be examined by authorities in Raleigh….
I would like to know what the books look like for the Woolworths Museum even.
Matthew 26:11 You will always have the poor with you
One homeless person said, “They do nothing to help us,” while another was quoted as saying, “They ain’t running it right.”
What has either one of them done to help himself?
$463.000.00. The staff must be celebrating–pay raises for everyone. What little remains may be spent on the homeless issues. The IRC has a “donate now” link on their website. The IRC should consider that the citizens of Greensboro have already donated cash, via the City Council, to fund your questionable operation. If you want money then you should have a fundraising manager on your staff, whose only responsibility is to go out and beg for additional funding. Therefore, the first place to go is to the downtown businesses and blackmail them into giving more money for this empty well. Tell the downtown merchants and businesses that the problem will go away if they give the IRC a lot of cash. If they do not donate cash, the IRC will continue to recruit the homeless to visit the current IRC location to come and flood the city with the less fortunate. When this occurs, the businesses and merchants will go to the City Council and demand that something be done to help them out. At that time all the citizens of Greensboro and beyond will be saddled with another City of Greensboro donation of 10s of thousands of dollars in an attempt to make the problem go away. In other words, the current City Council is setting up a cycle of helping the homeless, just like some of the welfare people who continue to milk the teat of the social services system.
It’s a place where the users can have computer and internet access, get personal hygiene items, clean up, shave and shower and get a hot meal. Ok for all of that, first they should clean up all the trash on a daily basis, clean up the inside, do whatever needs to be done before they get to shower and have a hot meal. Kind of like the rest of us. We work, then we take our pay to purchase food, gas, pay bills etc.. Keep enabling them, give handouts and we will continue to have this problem. Lets work on getting them to being able to get back on their feet (working), to have a place to stay, etc. They are not making progress along side the roads trashing it begging for money to get the next bottle, the next drug. #1 that needs to stop. People from other states probably say look what NC allows. Resource people can spend those hours working with them. If they continue to panhandle, they need to be put in a detox center (if that’s the problem to dry them out).
I agree 100%! They should have some skin in the game. If they want access to what the IRC has to offer, or a hot meal, they should have to work for it, like the rest of us do. Throwing money at the problem obviously is doing nothing except encouraging more homeless to come to Greensboro for free stuff.
I would be curious how they reached the figure $463K. Is this the value to the recipients of the services to be provided? How much is that per shower, shave, hot meal, personal hygiene item or hour of internet access? Do they provide a breakdown? If so, are the prices realistic? If not, why not? Although I can certainly understand the complaints of the people who are negatively affected by the proximity of the IRC, I think the Council should focus on the actual value of the services provided. All taxpayer funds are first extracted from someone else, and virtually none are voluntary contributions. They should be dispensed accordingly.
Great question? Typical of how we spen tax money.
What is the plan to phase it out and the jobs that go with it.?????
“One speaker said that the homeless problem was a “failure of the City Council to provide social welfare programs.” Instead, he said, the council chooses to spend large amounts of money to beef up and “militarize” the Greensboro Police Department.”
Ahh yes…lets further defund the police and give it all to the homeless…Isn’t the whole reason for the discussion because that place is such a rat’s nest that EMS wont even go in there without police presence?
Preach on Brother Bob, preach on!
“Affordable” housing is THE SOLUTION to all these issues…..at least that is what many of the speakers would have us believe. Some at the IRC indeed need a short-term boost to get over a hump. But if you step back and look at the largest portion of the IRC 24/7 clientele it would seem what they really mean is “free” housing. Why? Because many if not most have long-term addiction problems, mental health issues, or have burned all other family and friend bridges due to ongoing criminal activity. Like it or not, they are unemployable and will remain so. If the city chooses to provide “free” housing I would assume there would be some rules to prevent chaos. Possibly drug testing, alcohol testing, and monitoring of any criminal charges, etc., and some, possibly many will fail to meet the requirements. What happens then….back to the IRC?
If I read this correctly the solution for the trash problem provided by some who use this resource is for the city to hire more sanitation workers? That sums up the problem to me.
Wow, you didn’t mention any of the speakers, who they were, 2k signatures on a petition, or anything. To be fair, your elevation of rich people over everyone else tracks with your record of shoddy bootlicking masquerading as journalism.
Luis. go pound sand where the sun never shines
Wow….in reality, the so-called “rich people”….. you know those who have a job, own property, and pay their outrageous property taxes, are the people who are funding this. Walking up to the podium and begging, demanding, and name-calling to get some of that “rich people” money, in reality, is just “bootlicking” socialist style.
Well said Mongo, well said!
When the city opened a new housing project the other day off South Elm Eugene St. one of the new tenants said, “Oh this is wonderful, Now I can just lay around and do whatever I want to do”. WHAT? EXCUSE ME!