Supportive Housing Innovative Partnership
S H I P

The Numbers ~
On any given night, well over 6000 people in Charlotte have no place to call home. There are currently over 4700 children who are homeless enrolled in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system. The numbers are staggering.

The Beginning ~
Over two years ago, The Salvation Army (TSA) Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA) and the churches of St. Gabriel and St. Matthew shared a vision of the Sisters of Mercy of what could happen if we joined forces in addressing the issue of growing homelessness in Charlotte, and SHIP set sail.

The Vision ~
A venture of collaboration of partners: The Salvation Army, Charlotte Housing Authority, St. Gabriel Catholic Church and St. Matthew Catholic Church, who share a concern for those who are homeless; to work together to provide permanent, transitional housing; to provide the necessary social services to help residents maintain their personal dignity while becoming self-determining.

The Plan ~
The SHIP program is for single women and their children who are homeless.

Charlotte Housing Authority purchased a local apartment complex to renovate and allocate 60 of the total apartments for the SHIP program. The idea was to create a mixed-income rental community. The SHIP residents move in with the utmost respect of their privacy. The apartments are available to the SHIP program participants for up to 3 years.

The Salvation Army screens and selects families from The Salvation Army Center of Hope, a year-round emergency shelter for women, children and families who are homeless. TSA provides supportive services that include case management, vocational and educational training, and therapeutic services. Salvation Army website: Read More.

St. Gabriel and St. Matthew Catholic Churches provide resources, donated goods and volunteers to furnish and prepare homes for the families.

The Workings ~
In order to accomplish our goal of providing housing for 60 families, it takes an enormous amount of help from our community. Furniture must be collected, stored, sorted and moved. To set up 60 apartments we need at least 60 of each; kitchen tables with chairs, sofas, chairs, end tables, coffee tables, TV’s, TV stands and at least 120 beds and dressers. In addition, we collect/purchase all the furnishings for the bathroom and the kitchen.

The Knights of Columbus from St. Matthew and the Men’s Club from St. Gabriel collect the furniture on various Saturdays and store it at the house on Sharon Road owned by St. Gabriel Church. Everything collected is stored in this house. Along with the furniture, we store house wares, bedding and decorative items.

Food is collected and each apartment gets 2 large tubs full of staples to get the residents started with their new life.
To date, new beds have been purchased with funds from the churches. When the residents move in they have a home cooked meal waiting for them, a ‘Welcome Home’ cake and fresh flowers in the kitchen.

How You Can Help ~
Volunteer to pick up household items and furniture
Collect items needed for each home
Help set up households on moving day
Monetary donations to purchase new items such as bedding
Donate furniture and house wares
Spread the word. Tell your family, friends and neighbors
Be a prayer partner
Check the weekly church bulletin for currently needed items

Contact Information ~  Call 704.362.5047 ext. 601

For furniture donations, email: hcfurniture.donate@gmail.com

For house wares donations, email: hchousewares@gmail.com

Or ~ ask one of our many, many volunteers

Check out the latest SHIP video:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112827726434313998614/SHIPSupportiveHousingInnovativePartnership?feat=email%23slideshow/5700666029033566642 

News video from The Charlotte Housing Authority:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CHAToday/featured

Thank you for all you have done and continue to do!
Because ~ “There Is No Place Like Home”