By Gregory Childress
gchildress@heraldsun.com; 419-6645
Chapel Hill -- Thomas Whisnant, the Inter-Faith Council's new project manager, has only been on the job about seven weeks.
But you would never know it by the passion with which he speaks when he talks about the organization's mission.
At the IFC's annual meeting and potluck dinner last week, Whisnant sounded like an IFC veteran explaining what he sees as the differences and similarities between those who support a controversial new men's shelter and residents near the site who oppose it.
Speaking to nearly 250 IFC supporters attending the event, held at the United Church of Chapel Hill, Whisnant explained that supporters of the new men's shelter and opponents both share a desire for men in the shelter to leave.
But he said there is one key difference.
"Our detractors would like for these men to leave our town as defeated men with their heads held down," Whisnant said. "They would like them to leave as sickly men, as broken men, as hungry men, as men who possess very little and having even less to lose."
He said the IFC has different reasons for wanting the men to leave.
"The IFC would like for them to go away with their heads held high as new men," Whisnant said. "The Inter-Faith Council would like them to go away as healed men, as respectful and respected men, lost men who have been found, men with hopes in their hearts where once there was only despair."
The proposed Community House has been a source of controversy because of its location at 1315 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a 1.66-acre site UNC donated to the organization.
Residents near the project say they worry that Community House, a proposed 52-bed transitional facility for men trying to kick drug and alcohol addictions and those seeking mental health counseling, will pose a safety threat to residential communities and a nearby park.
Shelter officials, however, contend that the men staying at the new facility will be carefully screened. They also point to the fact that the IFC is changing its focus from an emergency shelter to long-term housing and programs that give troubled men the best chance to turn their lives around.
The architects for Community House and the proposed Food First project presented slideshows during the event highlighting the services and efficiencies the new facilities will generate.
Plans for Community House call for a 16,000-square-foot, two-building facility that will provide clients with medical, dental and mental health services in addition to job counseling.
Twenty of the 52 beds will be set aside for new clients while the 32 remaining beds will be earmarked for transitional housing.
The new facility will be capable of providing emergency cots for up to 17 men on cold nights, which is something that has been a sore spot for critics of the proposed location. They worry that men not enrolled in the program will spill into their neighborhoods and the park.
But Chris Moran, executive director of the IFC, said Community House will only accept men transported to the shelter from downtown after they have filled out an application, been interviewed and approved for transport to the facility.
The Food First project will combine the IFC's Community Kitchen and Food Pantry on the site of the current IFC headquarters on West Main Street in Carrboro.
Under the plan, the existing structure will be razed and replaced by a new, modern building to create efficiencies, especially in the area of loading and unloading food.
Moran said in an interview that it is also important to remind citizens, those who oppose Community House in particular, that the Community Kitchen and Food Pantry will not move with the men's shelter.
"There are still people saying the kitchen is going to move with them, but it's not," Moran said.
Moran said he's never seen so many people attend the organization's annual meeting and potluck dinner. He said the large turnout shows that the community is interested in the work of the IFC and supports the many changes on the horizon.
"I think people were eager to learn about the projects," Moran said. "There are many people who support our efforts."
