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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: September 19, 2000 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~ ~ G <br />SUBJECT: Inter-Faith Council - Pr~ct HomeStart _ <br />DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Resolution <br />Inter-Faith Council. Letter <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Moses Carey, Jr. <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hiilsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a resolution based on a request from the Inter-Faith Council for Social <br />Service to reconvene the original 1994 Emergency Family Support and Shelter Task Force to <br />discuss future financial support for Project HomeStart. <br />BACKGROUND: In 1997, Inter-Faith Council received a $1.3 million dollar Supportive Housing <br />Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the construction <br />and operation of three transitional housing units. Each housing unit could accommodate five <br />families and the project was named Project HomeStart.. The original plan was for InterFaith <br />Council to operate two units for homeless families and the Coalition for Battered Women was <br />scheduled to operate the third unit for families who were homeless as a result of domestic <br />violence. <br />Additional project funding was obtained from other sources including the N.C. Housing Finance <br />Agency, the HOME Investment Partnership Program, Orange County, as well as private <br />donations. Further, the County provided along-term lease for the site of the project on County <br />property on Homestead Road. The lease with InterFaith Council became effective July 1, 1995 <br />fora 25-year term. <br />On July 1, 199$, the InterFaith Council for Social Services (IFC) began operating two of the <br />transitional housing units. The Coalition for Battered Women was unable to occupy 'the third <br />housing unit during the first year of operations for various administrative reasons. As a result, in <br />the fall of 1999, IFC hired a Domestic Violence caseworker and began operating the third <br />building as transitional housing for five families experiencing homeless due to domestic <br />violence. <br />As the end of the initial three year grant period approaches on June 30, 2001, the Board <br />President and Executive Director of InterFaith Council have expressed concerns regarding <br />future funding for Project HomeStart. There has been informal communication from HUD <br />indicating that additional funding through March 2002 may be available to extend services <br />