News

Nonprofits endorse rebirth of Opp House as center to help homeless

By Bill Moss, Published: October 30, 2023

A potential new life for the old Opportunity House property is in the hands of a judge after a hearing last week in which numerous nonprofit leaders endorsed rebirth of the space as a one-stop center to serve homeless people and help those in crisis.

Chief Resident Superior Court Judge Peter Knight said during a hearing via Zoom that he hoped to review the final dissolution of the Opportunity Group as a nonprofit and the conveyance of the property to the city of Hendersonville and the Connections Center for about a quarter of its fair-market value. Such a transfer is permitted under state law governing the dissolution of nonprofit organizations, receiver John Noor told Knight, and has been OK’d by N.C. Attorney General lawyers following the case.

Noor, who as receiver is managing the wind-down of the nonprofit, outlined the agreement between himself, the Opp House’s creditors, the city and the new Connections Center for use of the 19,000-square-foot building. The city has agreed to buy the property for $485,000 and keep an ownership interest of around 30 percent. The Connections Center would operate the facility along with partner agencies that include Pisgah Legal Services, Safelight, Thrive, the Hope Coalition, the Free Clinics, Manna Food Bank, Blue Ridge Health and others.

“We really do feel like this is a win-win for the community,” Rachel Ingram, the Connections Center’s executive director, told the judge. “What we’re envisioning is a low-barrier communitywide access point. We’re looking at upwards of a dozen nonprofits who would have a physical presence inside of this building so people who are experiencing crisis or who are in some kind of need can go to one place and have their needs met and to do that with a very relationship-based individualized approach.

“We’re talking about someone there to greet them when they walk in the door, to identify what they need help with and to personally walk them to that office and to introduce them by name to someone who can help connect them to supportive services.”

City Attorney Angela Beeker and City Manager John Connet confirmed the city’s support for the agreement.

“This is not a shelter,” Connet said. “People will not be housed at this location. This is an opportunity to provide services in a day environment — regular office hours.”

Consistent with goals of Opp House founders

In a lawsuit it filed in 2018, the Community Foundation of Henderson County asserted that the Opportunity House had ceased to operate as a nonprofit. It asked the court to determine the status of the agency, which had dwindled into a shell of its once robust buffet of service to seniors, and to liquidate the asset for legitimate nonprofit use.

McCray Benson, the foundation’s president, told Judge Knight that the new use would be consistent with the Opp House founders’ stated purpose of “looking toward their participants’ spiritual, mental and physical improvement, encouraging (them) to regard themselves as important and integral parts of the community … and encouraging them to be self-reliant and industrious …”

“We believe this proposed plan helps to continue advancing core ideals of the organizational purpose,” he said.

Denise Long, executive director of United Way of Henderson County, also endorsed the Connections Center and its partners.

“These are nonprofits that are really well-established, respected members of our community,” she said. “They are setting up this project for success and knowing some of the needs in the community from the work that we do I think this is just a creative and really well-thought-out plan to meet those needs.”

Edney: Pardee interested in the site

Joey’s New York Bagels owner Joe Scarlata pointed out that his shop is directly behind the Opportunity House.

“I have bakers who come in in the middle of the night and young girls who come in in the early in the morning,” he said. “I’m just concerned about some of the people hanging around this project and what it would mean for my business and those around us.”

Henderson County Commissioner Michael Edney objected on different grounds.

“I’m not here as a commissioner,” he said. “I’m here basically as a citizen because I’ve been approached by some of the business folks” who expressed concern. “I would speak against this proposal for several reasons. One, it’s not consistent with the business and residential community.”

Although Edney is on the board of UNC Health Pardee, he said he was not speaking officially for the hospital either.

“I know Pardee Hospital is very much interested in the property and I don’t know that anyone has spoken with them but I would ask if nothing else to be given an opportunity for Pardee to come to the table and discuss it or make a bid,” he said. “To me, that’s basically the highest and best use for this particular piece of property.”

When Knight asked whether the hospital board had taken action to acquire the property, Edney responded: “I reached out to Jay Kirby this morning after I found out about this and just asked him, ‘Is that something we’re interested in over there?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely, yes.’”

Minutes later, Milton Butterworth read a statement that contradicted Edney’s comments.

“We certainly recognize the importance of addressing the social drivers of health,” he said. “We recognize the need for community coordination of care with respect to these basic services and that positive impact on health and we recognize the need for a central location that best meets the need for a unique concept like the Hendersonville Connections Center. It’s with those things in mind that we support the Hendersonville Connections Center and the city of Hendersonville in this pursuit.”

‘We are working with law enforcement’

Responding to safety and security concerns, Connections Center board Chair Kristen Martin said the agency has already taken steps around those issues.

“We are working very closely with our law enforcement partners,” she said. “They are also excited about this endeavor. We are working with them on security like cameras and things of that nature to upfit the building. We don’t have loitering or security concerns at the individual nonprofits sites that are already partners.”

Beeker, the city attorney, added that “I would envision support in the law enforcement and security arena as well.”

Julie Huneycutt, of the Hope Coalition, said both Pardee and the county jail would benefit from the Connections Center.

“Our goal for these services is that we would reduce (emergency room) admissions to the hospital, especially for those non-paying (patients), and that this would be a place where those who may be going to receive those services will be able to come without having to be admitted to a hospital as well as reducing recidivism in the jail,” she said.

Responding the idea of selling the Opp House property to the highest bidder, Connections Center attorney Tikkun Gottschalk steered Judge Knight to state law.

“There is no requirement that a receiver sell assets,” he said. “What you’ve heard this morning is a lot of I would call community equity in this property, which is not financial. It’s the location.” The proposal is “much more consistent with the purposes of dissolution and receivership within the context of all the nonprofit act.”