Thirteen people went before the Cumberland County commissioners last week with a message: do not cut funding for the Cumberland County CommuniCare mental health organization or raise its rent by 250%.
The speakers said the county’s proposed budget combined with a rent increase for CommuniCare’s space in a county-owned building means the agency will lose $153,244 to pay for services that help children and adults with mental illness, substance abuse and other problems that often lead them to crime and homelessness.
The comments came June 5 when the commissioners held a public hearing for the county’s proposed 2025-26 budget, which must be enacted no later than June 30. The commissioners are considering a $404.6 million spending plan.
Seven other people spoke with additional requests unrelated to CommuniCare. One of these requests was for the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, which is seeking $875,000 per year over the next four years (a total of $3.5 million) for its ongoing $23 million rebuild and expansion of its historic location on Hay Street.
The commissioners are scheduled to talk further about the proposed budget at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, and 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 19. The meetings will be held in room 564 of the Cumberland County Courthouse at 117 Dick St. in Fayetteville. The public may attend in person or watch the meetings online.
CommuniCare: Cuts will hurt people fighting to better themselves
Sheila Cuffee, chair of the board of nonprofit Cumberland County CommuniCare mental health organization, had grievances.
The county budget would cut funding for the organization by $86,549 and the commissioners recently voted to raise CommuniCare’s rent by 250% to $108,705, she said. Yet the commissioners voted recently to cut the rent for another nonprofit (the Vision Resource Center) to $1 per year.
CommuniCare faces a net reduction of $153,244 to provide services, Cuffee said. She called it “disparate treatment.”
“The loss will have a negative impact on our programs, creating a loss of support for potentially up to 892 clients,” Cuffee said. “This would be catastrophic to the most vulnerable in our community — our youth, the unhoused and those with mental challenges.”
Since 1998, CommuniCare has provided “a one-stop shopping center for adolescents, adults and their families to navigate the complex behavioral health system, said Sarah Hallock, the agency’s executive director.
“Since then, we have grown exponentially to meet the unique needs in this community,” Hallock told the commissioners. “Cumberland County has the highest juvenile crime rate per capita in North Carolina. In fact, 52% of the serious violent crimes committed in our community are done so by juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age.”
CommuniCare partners with the local juvenile crime prevention council, said Jason Hunter, chief court counselor for the state division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. CommuniCare provides an array of services that are invaluable for helping families that Hunter’s office works with, he said.
Several CommuniCare clients spoke about the impact of the organization:
- “I’m one of the success stories,” said Roberto Thomas of Fayetteville. Thomas had been homeless for 20 years, he said, and now has had an apartment for 3 ½ years because of the help he got from the people at Communicare.
- Tina McKinney said years ago, she had a difficult life and was “pretty much rotting away” in her house. “It was because of CommuniCare that I was able to receive resources that helped me with my child, that helped me be brave enough to go to the doctor to seek the proper help that I needed, and to go back to school.” Now McKinney is a Fayetteville State University student with plans to pursue a career in psychology for deaf people, she said.
- A tearful mother said CommuniCare helped her daughter who had harmed herself. She said her daughter had been sexually abused before the family moved to Fayetteville, and was bullied in school when she got here.
- Jessica Maynard said she had been homeless and sleeping next to her 2-year-old in a 24/7 laundry business, when her child was taken from her due to her substance abuse and mental illness. CommuniCare gave her food, therapy and other support, she said, and now she is sober, has a home and runs a small business.
- Kayla Patten said her four children were taken from her due to her substance abuse. “When that happened, I felt like I lost my whole world,” she said. “This journey has not been easy but CommuniCare has helped me tremendously with their services to get me back on the right track.” With CommuniCare’s help, she hopes to get her children back.
Cape Fear Regional Theatre wants $3.5 million
Ella Wrenn and Mary Kate Burke, who head the nonprofit Cape Fear Regional Theatre, asked for $875,000 per year for each of the next four years. This totals $3.5 million, which would be used for the theater’s $23 million rebuilding and expansion project. CFRT has been raising private dollars for this project, and also has been awarded funding from the Fayetteville City Council and the state legislature.
Launa Draughon, a teen who has performed at the theater, also asked for support for the CFRT. She briefly sang a song from The Little Mermaid musical.
Jobs, homeless shelter, election funding, a park
Christian Mosley of Fayetteville, a young father with a 2-year-old, said the community needs to address local wages and the high cost of housing. He said he recently heard two young men discuss stealing chips from a grocery store. “If they’re stealing chips there’s no telling what else they’re willing to do to survive,” he said.
Jason Rivera de la Cruz, a 23-year-old from Fayetteville, said the county should encourage the cybersecurity industry locally, which he is studying in school. “I want to see myself being able to stay in my hometown and get a job here in the future,” he said.
Charles Houston of Fayetteville asked that the commissioners provide long-term funding for the Salvation Army’s shelter for homeless people. He also asked about programs to alleviate poverty and help teens to reduce crime. (The commissioners voted in May to allocate up to $563,000 a year to re-open the Salvation Army’s homeless shelter, which suddenly closed this year.)
Lissette Rodrguez of Fayetteville, of the local Common Cause voting rights organization, praised the commissioners for plans to increase the county Board of Elections budget by 9%.
And as a county citizen, Rodrguez suggested that the commissioners convert the former County Courthouse parking lot on Gillespie Street downtown into a park. This is the parking lot where the commissioners were going to build the $144 million Crown Event Center performing arts venue until they voted June 4 to cancel that project.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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