The fate of the Salvation Army of the Sandhills’ Pathway to Hope shelter is, once again, uncertain.
It’s been three months since the Salvation Army of the Sandhills abruptly closed its Fayetteville homeless shelter, with its leaders at the time citing a lack of funding to support operations.
In May, a solution seemed in sight as Cumberland County commissioners said they would be willing to help fund and reopen the Pathway to Hope shelter at 245 Alexander St. But after a month of negotiations, the county ended contract negotiations on Friday that would have allocated up to $563,000 annually for shelter operations.
“Unfortunately, they weren’t able to provide the adequate, appropriate and high-quality standard that was requested of them, and we can’t move forward,” Veronica Jones, vice chair of the board of commissioners, told CityView.
Jones had put forward the original motion on May 19 to fund the shelter during a special board meeting. She wanted to work with the Salvation Army, a national nonprofit she said has a track record of successfully running shelters. She cited the success of the Judy D. Zelnak Center of Hope in Raleigh, which she said is housing some of the Cumberland County residents displaced by the Pathway to Hope shelter’s closure.
But on Friday she said there were two major “red flags” with the Salvation Army of the Sandhills that the county couldn’t get past: The Pathway to Hope shelter failed an environmental health inspection, and the Salvation Army of the Sandhills is still indebted to Dreamville Staffing, a temp agency.
Jones proposed including a mandatory inspection by the Cumberland County Department of Public Health as part of its contract with the Salvation Army of the Sandhills. She had the county include the requirement because of reports she said she received about mold, asbestos and unsafe food storage from residents who stayed at the shelter.
On June 12, the public health department conducted its inspection and found mold in the bathrooms and “a separate area of concern,” according to the county’s press release. The findings come after Aaron Goldfarb, one of two managers of the Salvation Army of the Sandhills, told Jones and other commissioners there was no mold in the building.
“I would feel comfortable sleeping in the building,” Goldfarb said during the May 19 special meeting discussing the county’s funding options for the shelter.
CityView attempted to reach Goldfarb and his wife, Jamie, who also manages the Salvation Army of the Sandhills, via the organization’s phone number but did not receive a response prior to publication. CityView also called and emailed Meagan Hofer, assistant southern territorial communications director for the Salvation Army, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
During the May meeting, Assistant County Manager Heather Skeens stated the Salvation Army owed Dreamville Staffing $80,000 to $100,000. Through the county contract negotiation process, county staff learned from Dreamville Staffing that the Salvation Army owes $100,000 in unpaid invoices.
While the county contract specified its funding couldn’t be used to pay off debts, Jones said the Salvation Army’s request for advance payments was a concern. When Cumberland County funds organizations, it does so on a reimbursement basis “to ensure public accountability,” according to the press release.
Commissioner Glenn Adams raised his concerns about the Salvation Army of the Sandhills using county funds to dig itself out of its debt at the May 19 meeting. He was also skeptical about the nonprofit’s ability to hire shelter staff. Adams was one of two commissioners who voted against the proposed contract; the other was Commissioner W. Marshall Faircloth.
“I wasn’t against the Salvation Army. I wasn’t against housing the unsheltered,” Adams told CityView on Friday. “It’s just that they weren’t in a position to do it.”
At the May meeting, Goldfarb said the Pathway to Hope shelter could get up and running by early June. The county said it received the first draft of a contract from the Salvation Army on June 6. On June 17, the same day the Salvation Army submitted a revised contract draft to the county, Jamie Goldfarb told ABC11 it would be another 60 to 90 days before the shelter would open.
Adams said the situation is disappointing and avoidable.
On May 8, commissioners agreed to fund a temporary housing solution for the 50 to 60 residents displaced by the Pathway to Hope shelter closure. The proposal from county staff would have allocated $400,000 to pay for 50 beds for men at the Cornerstone Christian Empowerment Center and hotel rooms for families and single women for 90 days.
The solution would have formally been approved on May 19, but instead, commissioners opted to fund the Salvation Army. Now the county is back at ground zero, Adams said.
“It’s very unfortunate that we’re in this situation,” Adams said. “We didn’t have to be in this situation.”
The Pathway to Hope shelter’s closure has left Cumberland County without its largest emergency shelter and its only shelter for women and families. Cumberland County’s preliminary Point-in-Time Count, an annual 24-hour census of the homeless population, found the number of homeless residents in the county increased by three from 2024 to 2025.
Temperatures are also rising; the county opened cooling stations for the first time this summer from June 17 to 20, and will open them again from June 22 to 27.
“We’re in a bad situation,” Adams said. “It’s 100 degrees outside, and it rains every afternoon.”
Other options
The City of Fayetteville is still “considering contributions toward shelter operations, pending Council approval,” according to the county’s press release.
“We support reopening and look forward to discussing this issue with the county leadership at an upcoming County-City Liaison meeting already scheduled in August,” Loren Bymer, the city’s marketing and communications director, told CityView.
Jones said county staff and the commissioners are also actively examining other options, but wouldn’t specify any providers or shelter options they are considering. She said the county is committed to finding an emergency shelter solution.
“We’ve got a few options that we feel are very promising,” Jones said. “We know the urgency to put something in place for emergency shelter.”
In addition to the options being evaluated, Jones said the county is proceeding with its Unhoused Support Center, though it is still years away from opening. The center includes a 24-hour homeless shelter that could have 157 beds, as well as laundry and shower facilities.
While construction was supposed to start this year, commissioners temporarily paused the project last year to reevaluate the logistics of the center. The project is now resumed, and county commissioners met with the architecture firm LS3P on June 17 to discuss building plans. Jones said residents can expect an update on the center at its regular meeting on August 11.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.