Fayetteville and Cumberland County this week doled out a total of $3,675 in tax money for motel rooms for homeless people escaping potentially life-threatening cold weather.
Due to staffing problems caused by COVID-19, the Salvation Army shelter was not taking homeless people in for overnight stays this week on the “white flag” days of Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures plunged into the 20s.
The shelter is usually a “white flag” facility, and officials are hoping that it can once again become one by Monday of next week.
In the meantime, the Fayetteville Cumberland Homeless Initiative Fund, which receives city and county funds, paid for 36 rooms on Monday and Tuesday nights, with 43 homeless people staying in them, said Delores Taylor, the director of Cumberland County Community Development.