Dozens of 30-day bus passes. Thousands of showers. Tens of thousands of lunches.

In its first two quarters managing Fayetteville Cares, the rebranded name for the Day Resource Center, the Manna Dream Center has seen increased usage across its services and the number of service provider partners at the center. 

“We’ve come a long way in the last six months,” said Cory Lamkins, director of Fayetteville Cares, in a presentation to the Fayetteville City Council’s Homelessness and Mental Health Committee on Jan. 7.

In the presentation, Lamkins ran through the basic needs met by the center since Manna Dream Center took over. From July to December, Fayetteville Cares provided:

  • 4,121 showers
  • 2,591 loads of laundry
  • 33,710 lunches
  • 31 30-day bus passes
  • 210 single-day bus passes

The center’s staff also fulfilled 649 clothing requests.

Further needs were met through Fayetteville Cares’ partnership with service providers. LifeNet offered pre-screenings for behavioral health counseling for 19 people, and Sunflower Wellness is counseling four people regularly. Pearl Transit provided 213 dentures.

More services are continually added as Fayetteville Cares gets more providers, with 14 partners added since July and another six pending finalization. Barbers from Fayetteville Technical Community College’s barbering classes now offer haircuts once a month. Life Focus Empowerment Network will transport center visitors to their building on Fillyaw Road for classes on finance management, employment development, parenting and more. 

Veggies for Vets, part of the local non-profit Offroad Outreach, will also build a raised community vegetable garden behind Fayetteville Cares in the spring. Its produce will be used in the center-provided lunches. Those lunches are prepared in Fayetteville Cares’ newly improved kitchen which now features two convection ovens and updated storage, a new sink and kitchen-grade faucet, a fridge-freezer and a full fridge.

St. Joseph of the Pines is also looking to bring their mobile dental clinic, once it’s refurbished, to Fayetteville Cares once a month. The Eye Care Center could fill the center’s current gap in eye care services by providing prescriptions for glasses and contacts that can then be filled by LaTasha Patrice Enterprises, a current eyecare service provider.  

The council lauded the center’s success and hard work. However, Tommy Cartwright, director of the Manna Dream Center, and Lamkins say it comes with a price.

“We have outside organizations, cities actually, sending people to us saying, ‘Go there and they’ll take care of you,’” Cartwright said during the meeting. “So the more efficient we are, the more effective we are working with coordinated reentry and with various organizations, unfortunately, it’s just going to draw more people.”

Lamkins said Wake County Hospital has sent five people to Fayetteville Cares. He also said the center is seeing people from Robeson and Harnett counties. 

Fayetteville Cares is providing care with six employees and 15 volunteers who contribute two to four hours weekly. Lamkins’ presentation highlighted that more volunteers are needed. Those interested can apply on Fayetteville Cares’ website.

The city provides Manna Dream Center with about $300,000 in operation costs for Fayetteville Cares; the rest of the center’s costs are paid for through sponsorships, donations and by Manna Dream Center. 

The city also pays around $87,000 for an armed security guard to ensure safety at the center. The committee passed a motion to recommend the city council consider allocating further resources toward the center’s security as members still have concerns. 

Lamkins’ presentation emphasized that care gaps are still present. Lamkins hopes a Cumberland County Department of Social Services staff member can come to Fayetteville Cares regularly to help visitors fill out applications for food stamps and other services. He also said Fayetteville Cares has been asked to connect with unhoused Hope Mills residents, as the town lacks homelessness resources.

The presentation also highlighted the need for more affordable housing to transition people out of homelessness and local long-term substance use disorder recovery treatment options. Lamkins said they are sending people to Raleigh and Wilmington for treatment.

“To be successful at combating homelessness, we need to pull more resources in for rehabilitation and recovery and for longer-term programs,” Lamkins said.

Residents interested in hearing more about Fayetteville Cares’ progress can attend the organization’s next quarterly community meeting on Friday, Jan. 17 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Fayetteville Cares, also known as the Day Resource Center.

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 CityView News Fund.