Chapel Hill day center could be place to shower, do laundry and get help by 2027
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- Orange County approved a 10-year lease for a Chapel Hill day center by 2027.
- The center will offer hygiene services and connect people to housing resources.
- Renovation costs exceed $1.3 million and must be funded without county debt.
A long-sought solution could give people living on the streets in Orange County a place to go in a couple of years for a hot shower, a meal, and resources to help them get on their feet.
It could also help address longstanding concerns about public safety and homelessness in downtown Chapel Hill.
The Orange County commissioners approved a 10-year lease Tuesday for the former Duke Energy building at 2700 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill. It needs work, but could open by July 2027.
Tuesday’s conversation focused on the need, the renovation costs and whether the center could consolidate services now spread across the county. Commissioner Earl McKee asked whether it could attract people from surrounding counties to Chapel Hill, increasing the burden on local services.
“That’s not a bad thing, in a way, but it creates a situation where it becomes an attractant that the residents of Orange County have paid for,” McKee said.
Commissioner Sally Greene said she “could not be happier” about the plan, noting “this has been a need that has gone for 20 years, and it is an investment.”
“These are remarkable centers. They do good work. They combine resources. They are efficient locations for helping serve people who very badly need service,” Greene said.
Anyone could shower and get services
UNC-Chapel Hill bought the nearly 24,000-square-foot building in 2008 and has used it largely to store campus files and for UNC Police operations, county staff said.
It has two large, open rooms and a number of offices, and is next to the SECU Community House, a 24-hour men’s transitional shelter with 52 beds and 17 emergency beds for cold-weather shelter. IFC HomeStart is a separate shelter for women and families on Homestead Road.
Local rules limit whom the Inter-Faith Council for Social Services can serve — residents must be working toward sustainability and permanent housing, and not engaging in drugs, alcohol or criminal activity — but the day center would serve anyone.
People living outdoors in Chapel Hill and Carrboro lack good places to go during the day, gathering in coffee shops, libraries, the Seymour Senior Center, the IFC in Carrboro, and on sidewalks and in doorways. Some find temporary relief from the cold or heat on Chapel Hill Transit buses.
An integrated day center could offer a climate-controlled place to hang out, care for personal needs, and connect with medical, behavioral and housing programs. Mobile clinics, including dental services and veterinary care, could also host pop-up events.
It’s “a best practice for coordinating services for the unsheltered by bringing everything in one place,” Deputy County Manager Caitlin Fenhagen said.
Northern Orange County residents could continue going to the Department of Social Services in Hillsborough.
Building needs new roof, renovations
Demand for a community-based solution, especially in downtown Chapel Hill, has grown in the last few years. Orange County Manager Travis Myren and then-interim Chapel Hill Town Manager Mary Jane Nirdlinger contacted the university’s real estate office about the building in April.
The UNC Office of Real Estate and Campus Enterprises responded with an offer to lease the building in 2026. The county would not have to pay rent, but it would be responsible for utilities, renovations and building upkeep.
The county could pay roughly $16,521 to hire a renovations consultant familiar with State Office of Construction standards and to provide cost estimates. The building needs a new fire alarm system, small renovations to accommodate cold-weather cots, a new roof, and heating and ventilation system upgrades.
That could add up to over $1.3 million and cannot be paid with debt, since the county does not own the building.
Alyssa Hinton, voter engagement project lead with the Activate! IFC project, noted the plan comes as U.S. homelessness policies are returning to “vagrancy laws” that punish people instead of helping. The state House passed a bill in May to make it a crime to sleep on public property. The bill is in a state Senate committee.
Local officials are being pressured to adopt similar measures, Hinton said.
“They deepen trauma, increase displacement and perpetuate cycles of incarceration,” she said. “We believe in a different path, one rooted in dignity, care and community collaboration.”
More people may need shelter, help
Last winter, roughly 37 people a night sought shelter when the temperature dipped below freezing — a total of 1,861 stays over 50 nights, county spokesman Wil Glenn said. At least two people have died in recent years without a warm place to go.
“We are seeing more elderly, more families with children, more individuals with serious mental illness not being able to access residential treatment, more college students and more people living out of their vehicles,” Glenn said.
Advocates are expecting a similar need for shelter this winter, if not more, Fenhagen said, and the University Baptist Church shelter in downtown Chapel Hill will not be available.
Two sites that will be available are the Chapel Hill Police Department on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and St. Matthew’s Church in Hillsborough. But the police department is moving to Millhouse Road, which means the town could soon demolish its current headquarters and address the coal ash buried underneath.
Planning is also ongoing for a Crisis Diversion Facility near the UNC Hospitals campus in Hillsborough. The center would be a 24/7 clearinghouse for community services, with a behavioral health urgent care clinic and short-term mental health and medical detox programs.
The commissioners approved buying the 5-acre site this year for $1.35 million and have hired consultants to design the roughly $26 million building and manage construction.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 12:58 PM.
