Overview:
• The board approved the shelter and service center’s overall footprint and floorplan.
• The shelter is to house men, women, and families with children.
• The county has considered whether to build the shelter near a day center that Fayetteville has for homeless people off South Eastern Boulevard and Person Street.
The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Monday selected a design for a shelter and services center for homeless people that they plan to open by the end of 2027.
The design sets the shape of the building and determines where different parts will be, such as courtyards, sleeping areas, classrooms, communal space, and offices. The facility, with an estimated cost of $17 million, will be 24,000 square feet, with 100 beds, and accommodations for women, families, and men.
No Location Yet for Shelter
The location for the Unhoused Support Center has not been decided. The county has considered a property in the vicinity of the Fayetteville Day Resource Center, CityView has learned. The Day Resource Center is on King Street in between Person Street, South Eastern Boulevard, and East Russell Street.
The Day Resource Center is a city-owned center that provides services to homeless people such as showers, laundry, haircuts, phone charging, computer access, and assistance in obtaining housing, healthcare, and other support.
The county previously planned to place the Unhoused Support Center on Hawley Lane by the former Pauline Jones Elementary School in the B Street neighborhood near downtown Fayetteville. The county even held a groundbreaking ceremony there in February 2024.
Then in October 2025, commissioners decided to look for another site after nearby residents said they don’t want a shelter for homeless people in their neighborhood.
Commissioner Veronica Jones in October suggested it would be better to put the Unhoused Support Center near the Day Resource Center so that shelter residents can easily visit the day center for its services.
Manna Church’s Manna Dream Center runs the city’s Day Resource Center. The county commissioners in December voted to hire Manna Dream Center to run the county’s Unhoused Support Center.
Courtyards or Forms?
Assistant County Manager Heather Skeens presented two design proposals for the Unhoused Support Center to the county commissioners on Monday.
The staff and Manna Church preferred one called Carved Courtyards, she said. It has a somewhat square layout with several courtyards along the exterior. The other layout, called Intersecting Forms, has more of a cross-shaped layout.
The floor plan of the Carved Courtyard design would be better for safety, particularly for children, by having sleeping areas more separated than in the Intersecting Forms plan, Skeens said.
The commissioners voted 4-2 to approve the Carved Courtyard design.
Commissioners Jones, Henry Tyson, Pavan Patel, and Chair Kirk deViere voted to approve the Carved Courtyards design. Commissioners Glenn Adams and Marshall Faircloth voted against approving a design. Commissioner Jeannette Council was absent.
“You put me in a difficult situation asking me to decide on a schematic for a building when I don’t know where it’s going to be,” Adams said. “I don’t know the land, I don’t know the layout of the land. But you’re asking me to determine which one of these. I can’t vote on that.”
Faircloth told CityView that he voted “no” because he agreed with Adams that the commissioners should not approve a building design until they pick a site.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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