Cumberland County is in desperate need of a homeless shelter, and it’s hoping organizations will step forward to provide one. 

Organizations willing to open and operate a temporary emergency homeless shelter have until 5 p.m. on July 17 to respond to the county’s request for information (RFI).

“We are committed to finding the best possible solutions to support our unhoused population,” Veronica Jones, vice chair of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, said in a press release.

The county wants to “explore innovative approaches” and “gather insights into potential service models,” according to the RFI.  

There is no contract or funding opportunity in the request for information. However, Assistant County Manager Heather Skeens said the county will look at potential contracting opportunities based on responses to the request for information.

“If there’s some approaches or buildings that have potential, then we would put out an RFP [request for proposals] for contracted services,” Skeen said. “We are looking at any and all possibilities at this point.”

Once the county selects an organization, the goal is to start providing emergency shelter services as soon as possible.

“Our board of commissioners will be making some quick decisions based on how to proceed once we receive those responses on July 17,” Skeens said.

The Salvation Army of the Sandhills closed its Fayetteville homeless shelter in April. The closure left Cumberland County without its largest emergency shelter, and the only one serving women and families. Cumberland County now has only one homeless shelter for men and another for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

The county has been providing hotel rooms for about 22 families, a total of 72 people, displaced by Salvation Army shelter’s closure. That housing ends in July, Skeens said.

Cumberland County Board of Commissioners tried to save the Salvation Army’s shelter, voting in May to provide the nonprofit up to $563,000 per year. The funding came with one requirement: The shelter needed to pass a Cumberland County Department of Public Health inspection. 

On June 12, the public health department conducted its inspection and found mold in the bathrooms and “a separate area of concern,” according to a press release from the county. County commissioners then ended contract negotiations with the Salvation Army of the Sandhills.

Without the Salvation Army, the county returned its attention to the development of its own homeless shelter. The Unhoused Support Center on Hawley Lane will be a 24-hour shelter with  about 157 beds for men, women and families. 

The county paused the project last year, but commissioners met with the architecture firm LS3P last month to discuss building plans, and will provide an update on the center’s progress at its regular meeting on Aug. 11.

Skeen said the center is on track to be finished by the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. The current request for homeless shelter providers is to ensure every community member can access an emergency shelter until the Unhoused Support Center is up and running.

“It’s really an opportunity for us to fill that gap for sheltering opportunities until we have a more permanent solution to the circumstance that we’re in,” Skeens said.

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.