Temporary shelters have dotted the ballfield at Pomona Park for Greensboro’s Doorway Project for four winters. This winter was exceptionally challenging, bringing ice, snowstorms, and bitterly cold temperatures. Bennita Curtain with the Interactive Resource Center, which manages the 64-square-foot aluminum Pallet shelters, says more than 100 people stayed there this season.
“We did have maybe one or two heaters that malfunctioned during that time,” Curtain said, adding that the Greensboro Police Department came out to shuttle anyone who wanted to leave over to First Baptist Church’s white flag operations on Friendly Avenue for overnight warmth.
“I think only three people went, but most of them weren’t affected by anything,” Curtain said.
Latisha McNeil, the director of the city’s Department of Community Safety, said some residents also had issues with their amenities.
“There was an issue with two of the RV bathroom shower units, but there were others on site that were able to be utilized,” McNeil said, adding that there are also bathrooms at the concession stand next to the ball field at Pomona.
Greensboro City Councilman Adam Marshall represents District 4, where Pomona Park resides. Along with fellow city leaders, Marshall attended a Thursday work session to get up to speed on unhoused program updates.
“During these colder months, we are very focused on keeping people warm,” Marshall said.
The temporary shelters were purchased by the city in 2022. Each can house two people, along with five RV sleeping trailers that can fit 14 and have two bathrooms each; one of them has a shower.
Curtain said this season, more than 100 people have stayed at Pomona Park. The program is set to end on March 31.
Despite a few problems, Curtain says that the Doorway Project is undergoing a metamorphosis.
It started as just a winter emergency program, she said, but has expanded to include required case management to help residents get back on their feet.
“The first year, you could come, [and] as long as you obeyed the rules, you stayed for five months,” Curtain said. “Now you have to meet with your case manager. You do have to go through a plan.”
That plan is tailored to the individual. Residents set goals for 30, 60, and 90 days with their case manager and evaluate progress each month.
“There’s no one thing that you can say, ‘Oh, someone has to be working on this,’” Curtain says, because each person faces unique challenges and barriers. Some people prioritize goals related to receiving disability benefits. Others are trying to get IDs.
“The ultimate goal, of course, is stable housing,” Curtain said.
“We have some success with people being able to get into low-rent places like boarding houses, but those are still far and few between,” Curtain said, adding that the rising cost of rent is another setback.
According to the IRC, 700 people were sheltered at the white flag operations over at First Baptist Church during the two winter storm weekends. The organization also worked with the city to open a second white flag shelter location for women and families.
Ensuring support for the unhoused doesn’t stop in the winter, and Marshall says every situation is different. That’s why he says having options is important, like an overnight stay at Greensboro Urban Ministry, white flag—a place to sleep when the temperatures drop, finding supportive housing through the Servant Center, or using the IRC’s day shelter’s services like mailboxes, laundry, showers, and more.
“I think trying to have as many resources available as possible and trying to have some sense of funneling coordination of the different options is helpful,” Marshall said, “It’s not just a city issue or a downtown issue, it’s a community issue.”
The IRC, Doorway Project, and the Pallet shelters themselves have been roundly criticized over the years, including by city councilmembers such as former District 3 representative Zack Matheny, who called the Pallet purchase a Band-Aid solution and vouched for more permanent alternatives.
“There are other places that we could buy to actually house people today,” he said in 2022.
Three years later, some of the city’s plans for permanent housing are coming to fruition.
“The ultimate goal, of course, is stable housing.”
Bennita Curtain, executive director of the Interactive Resource Center
Over the summer, the Pallet shelters were relocated to the razed site of the former Regency Inn property at 2701 North O. Henry Blvd. According to Curtain, the shelters won’t be moved back to that location in the summer since 114 units are being built there.
Curtain said she also hopes to add full-time security, after safety issues at the IRC heightened in the summer of 2024 with fights and multiple calls to the Greensboro Police Department.
“If I had security, that’s their sole job, to go out there and de-escalate that situation, I think we’d keep a lot of those disagreements and scuffles down where we don’t have to depend on calling GPD,” Curtain said.
Curtain’s hopes for the IRC’s future hinge on the continued partnerships with other organizations that help the unhoused and local entities like the city and county, as well as funding.
“One of the things that we really want to see here at the IRC is more structured programs coming back,” Curtain said, like their former computer lab and a full health clinic.
“Many nonprofits are experiencing turbulence due to uncertainties with federal funding sources and shifts in philanthropic giving,” according to a statement from the IRC, “This directly impacts the entire nonprofit sector in Guilford County, and the IRC is no exception.”
While Curtain hopes that guests come to the IRC and its programs with a “sense of purpose,” she’s well-acquainted with reality.
“People are out here surviving,” she said.
