Carol Love Karpf and her team of volunteers wash linens, assemble gallon-sized bags of food items and toiletries, and prepare 12 beds for their nightly guests. They know little about who's going to show up, only that these people have nowhere else to go.
Karpf runs the SaltLight Center, the first emergency homeless shelter in recent times for women and children in Gwinnett County. The shelter opened in Lawrenceville in November and can host as many people as there are beds, each for up to three nights.
Nonprofit leaders and local officials tout the opening of the SaltLight Center as a triumph after years of what they suggest has been resistance from government officials and residents. In a county that once boasted "Gwinnett is Great" and "Success Lives Here" on a pair of iconic water towers, homeless advocates said it has taken time to convince others that a problem persists.
"We have fought for a long time to have an emergency shelter there," said Katheryn Preston, executive director of the Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness. "Most suburban counties don't want to do that. The perception is that poor and homeless people only live in the city."
County and municipal officials contend they support homeless residents by steering them to nonprofit and charity organizations, which they believe are better suited to accommodate people's needs.
Gwinnett annually spends $55,000 to fund the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services, an agency that merges public and private dollars to provide planning services for local families and children. In turn, the agency applies for state and federal grants that bring in $500,000 per year.
"We rely heavily on the Coalition for Health and Human Services," said Joe Sorenson, county spokesman. "It's been a good partnership for us."
That approach has been met with lukewarm support among homeless advocates, even those who deal directly with government officials.
"Gwinnett has pretty much taken a hands-off approach for years," said Ellen Gerstein, executive director of the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services. "Instead of being a part of the problem, they’ve not been a part of anything."
Nonprofit organizations and charities throughout Gwinnett have promoted the concept of an emergency shelter for years. A network of 200 churches has catered to homeless families, providing them with shelter, food and services meant to transition them into long-term housing options.
Family Promise of Gwinnett, a nonprofit interfaith organization, wanted to open a facility for families in crisis situations. Group leaders called a small informational meeting that involved 20 local pastors two years ago and came up with a blueprint for an emergency shelter. They teamed up with a Lawrenceville church that had enough space to host the facility, set aside money for a full-time staffer in Karpf and received zoning approval from city officials.
"We noticed there was a gap here," said Brent Bohanon, executive director of Family Promise of Gwinnett.
In a sign of changing times, Sorenson said county commissioners approved a zoning request in December for a homeless shelter near Jimmy Carter and Peachtree Industrial boulevards in the Norcross area. The proposal called for a 16-bed facility that will accept only women.
Since it started accepting families two months ago, the SaltLight Center hasn't been fully occupied, Karpf said. She expects that will change once word gets around to the county’s homeless and the weather turns frigid.
People are directed to the shelter after calling a local helpline and undergoing a screening process to determine level of need. Their stay begins at 7 p.m., when they arrive to hot dinners provided by volunteers, can take showers and settle in for a night of board games, TV and counseling. Checkout is 7 a.m.
"We've only got a few hours with them, so we want to shower them with love," Karpf said.
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