Donnie Dublin was once a client at the Day Center, but more recently became a volunteer. He says the upcoming closure is hard to stomach — for him and for the homeless folks who come here.
"For me it's been, I get kind of choked up, so but it's been kind of rough for me, because I love volunteering, you know, I'm saying, so, and now it's only gonna be one day a week, so that's gonna put me with having to find something else or somewhere else, and I wouldn't want to volunteer nowhere else, but here. This is my second home. I love it," he said.
Dublin says it’s going to be a problem for downtown Wilmington — people are using the library more to escape the weather, and staying out of the heat.
"It's gonna cause another strain on the city," he said.
The Day Center is now only open once a week: just Wednesdays, when it used to operate Monday through Wednesday. And by the end of July, it’ll close at this location, with no immediate replacement, according to CEO Tony Perez.
"The reality is that we're not going to be into a new facility up and running and ready to go by the end of July. It's just too long of a process to buy real estate, so we're trying to contemplate "what does that mean, and how do we work on a transition that allows us to continue to support our friends," Perez told WHQR.
"Friends" — that’s what Tony and his wife, Christine, call the clients who come to the center. Christine is the Day Center’s founder, and says the changes and the uncertainty has led to some challenges, and some of her friends have occasionally gotten emotional.
"We've been in First Baptist for three years, and so they're losing a home. They're losing not just a home, but they're losing consistency, they're losing friendship, they're losing family, and so I think access to so many things, I mean, I could go on, and I think that it's just heartbreaking," she said.
Tony says they’re in the midst of negotiating to buy a former bar on 10th and Dock streets to replace the Day Center. The owner is working with them to make it easier, but they have a lot of fundraising to do.
"We would not be in a position just because the length of how long we've been open and historical income stuff like that — There's no way we would qualify for a loan from a bank, so the offer of owner financing is tremendous. Just a bigger challenge, because now we have to raise more money, but that's what we're trying to work on," Perez said.
Tony says they're still negotiating, but he expects they’ll need to raise another $350,000 to cover the cost of the purchase. They’ve raised over $125,000 so far, and have a GoFundMe to try to help with fundraising. He hopes the faith community will step up, in particular — either with financial help, or with an interim location while they close on this new property.
Read more: Living Hope Day Center in dire straits, seeks help from community
"When we ask ourselves, Who's your neighbor, you have to include the people who don't necessarily look like you or think like you or live the same lifestyle as you, and for that reason we have to consider the unhoused in our community. They are our neighbors, and I think the church is in a really good position to where they can help, you know, they have a pretty captive audience every week," he said with a chuckle.
Tony said he’d like to see pastors call upon parishioners to support the center, and he’d like to see churches themselves open up to help. Funding from the endowment or city or county is great, but to him, the day center is a ministry. They don’t preach to their friends, but they pray with them.
Donnie says those prayers are as important as any other kind of assistance.
"If it weren't for this ministry, I would probably be dead now. And I'm saying, and I'm not saying that in a light way, because I actually tried to where I attempted suicide before. So, and Christine, she was there right there. What I'm saying, so, and a lot of people factor into the equation, right, but it's just that these people just have stolen my heart. This ministry, it works. It works," he said.
The Day Center team is still working with their friends on the days they are closed: they’ve scheduled breakfasts on Mondays and lunch on Tuesdays to keep services going. But when the day center’s doors close in August, it’ll be a tough, hot summer for the homeless in downtown Wilmington.
