Shelter for 121 Motel residents closed

May 15—HENDERSON — On Tuesday, the city, county and state wrapped up operations at the temporary shelter set up at the former Eaton-Johnson Middle School for the 150-some folks displaced by the closure of 121 Motel. The move was in full swing by around noon.

Of the 40 families that entered the shelter last Tuesday, 29 were still there awaiting permanent rehousing as of Monday evening, said Dasha Stutson, project manager. Of those, 11 were moved to hotels as they navigate the process for obtaining housing — credit checks, background checks, that sort of thing.

The city recognized Stutson for her efforts at the council meeting on Monday. Indeed, there's a lot of credit to dole out. Stutson thanked God for the mayor.

Mayor Melissa Elliott reached out to a list of local nonprofits as long as her arm and then some. The city and county governments, along with the Department of Health and Human Resources all worked together to get the shelter up and running over the course of around a week.

Baptists on Mission provided showers, laundry and meals. Myra's Angels, a nonprofit out of Wake Forest, put together bags filled with essentials like clothes. WellCare, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Dickies Grove Baptist Church, Rebuilding Hope, Salvation Army, YMCA, Jie Rie Hands, Gang Free, Green Rural Redevelopment Organization, AimHigh and somehow even more all contributed to the effort.

The many, many helping hands holding those 150-some folks up is an example of Henderson's resilience, said Elliott.

On Tuesday, the mayor said she was in favor of treating people humanely. And that's where things got a little complicated — there was some friction between the city and county as it pertains to treatment of the residents.

The folks inside wore disposable wristbands to get into and out of the facility, meaning they were wearing them to work and school.

On the first day, Vance County Sheriff's Office deputies, armed and dressed in tactical gear, watched over the bedding area and stood over residents before city officials requested they stop, according to the mayor. Sheriff Curtis Brame recalled that dressed-down deputies, their guns concealed, made rounds through the bedding area but weren't unnecessarily intrusive.

Either way, law enforcement presence is the Red Cross' standard operating procedure for shelters, said Vance County Commissioners Chair Dan Brummitt. The county is, after all, responsible for the safety of those residents and "needs to know how many souls are on board."

Nevertheless, some residents were displeased — two tore off their wristbands at one point, crying "free at last." Christopher, who has been incarcerated in the past, said he flashed back to his time in prison as a result of those measures.

"Dehumanizing, like a prison," those were the ways several residents described their experience. The wristbands, one resident said, felt like a label. Elliott was not in favor of those.

"We have to unlearn the theory of big I, little you," said Councilwoman Geraldine Champion, referring to the need for greater cooperation between the city and county.

She said the residents of the motel had been "failed" at all levels — inspectors, schools, governments.

The residents of 121 Motel were paying $75 per night, upwards of $2,000 per month, to stay at a place infested with black mold.

The problems had been building up for a long while, said Champion, not something that had suddenly cropped up overnight.