The City of Danville recently received $990,667 as part of the American Rescue Plan, in order to help combat homelessness. The House of Hope homeless shelter is a Danville-based not-for-profit organization that relies on local churches and community donations to operate. This organization contacted the City of Danville Housing and Development Division for assistance with planning for an expansion of its facility and preparing a proposal to the City Manager in order to obtain funding for the project.
Sean Campbell, from the Housing and Development Division, was asked to work on a concept plan and consult with the House of Hope. The current facility is capable of housing 18 persons experiencing homelessness, however, the current configuration provides limited facilities for housing women safely and provides no ability to house parents with children. The concept was developed to not only address a lack of capacity at the shelter, but to create a safer environment for residents. The proposed design includes separate areas to accommodate fathers with children and families with children. These areas are designed with the ability to be easily utilized as additional space for single men while ensuring the safety of the children. An unused space will be utilized to create a separate area to construct a facility for women and mothers with children.
The proposed design for the remodeled facility expands the total capacity of the shelter to 46 – a capacity increase of about 61 percent. After numerous meetings and concept revisions, a final concept plan was developed and presented to the City of Danville City Manager. The City approved the funding for the Architectural and Engineering services for this project. Once the A&E is completed the City will determine if the proposed cost of the project is feasible. While Sean Campbell is no longer with the City of Danville, his new position as Housing Programs Director at West Piedmont PDC allows him to continue consulting on this project.