DECATUR, Ga. — DeKalb County recently opened a day center in south DeKalb that provides resources to homeless individuals during the daytime hours. The county will now work with St. Vincent de Paul in Chamblee to open another facility in north DeKalb.
St. Vincent de Paul owns property at 2050 Chamblee Tucker Road that would be used for the day center, and the organization would operate it. The facility is next to the DeKalb Peachtree Airport.
The county commission approved the North DeKalb Day Center implementation plan at its June 23 meeting. The facility will be open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is slated to open in November and can serve 100 individuals.
“The center will offer low-barrier access to basic services, restrooms, scheduled showers, meals, phone usage, mail services, behavioral and mental health assistance, case management, employment support, laundry service, job readiness, housing resources, and Telehealth visits,” the agenda packet said.
Claratel Behavioral Health will also offer behavioral and mental health services and substance use disorder programs.
Commissioner Nicole Massiah encouraged the county staff to evaluate and compare other options.
The South DeKalb Day Center changed locations and vendors a few times before it was approved and opened. It was on the agenda for about six weeks before the commission voted on the contract.
The county is working with New Life Community Alliance to host and operate the South DeKalb Day Center. The initial plan was to partner with Frontline Response for $900,000. That shifted to the Salvation Army for $1.2 million, and then working with Peace Baptist Church and New Life Community Alliance.
New Life Community Alliance now operates the day center at its facility on Flat Shoals Road. The operating cost of the South DeKalb Day Center is about $1.7 million.
“[I’m] just trying to better understand the nature of the need to expedite it because there was opposition for some time in and around the South DeKalb Day Center,” Massiah said. “It wasn’t until a week ago when we visited that now the North DeKalb Day Center is even something we’re discussing here.”
Commissioners Michelle Long Spears and Robert Patrick asked about the possibility of opening another day center at St. Vincent de Paul on Chamblee Tucker Road during the commission meeting on May 26, before the facility’s opening in south DeKalb.
Vincent de Paul will renovate the 10,000-square-foot space it owns, covering about $1.2 million of the cost. DeKalb County will chip in $700,000 for the renovation. The total cost to get the facility in Chamblee operating is about $2.2 million.
“We have looked at St. Vincent de Paul because they have an empty space there that they own that is vacant and has to be renovated,” Community Development Director Allen Mitchell said. “It’s going to require 18 weeks of construction.”
The renovations will include repairs to the roof and flooring, as well as installing a kitchen, showers and restrooms.
Mitchell added that the location made sense logistically since it is near a MARTA station and the county has worked with the organization to open cooling and warming centers. The county had not looked at other locations in north DeKalb.
“I would like to see that, because again, even with New Life, they didn’t request a renovation budget. To be quite frank, they used what they had…to serve the community, so I’m not understanding,” Massiah said. “Can we look at a place that may be able to accommodate [people] without incurring a $700,000 expense to the county?”
Spears and Presiding Officer LaDena Bolton agreed to consider other locations due to construction costs but supported moving forward with the current plan.
“It simply has to do with cost, the same that we’ve done with other agenda items where we’re concerned about the fee increases, the millage rate increase,” Bolton said. “I do appreciate you asking if there was another location so we can save money.”
Patrick noted that opening the day center in north DeKalb is a priority.
“There are homeless folks all over the county. It is frustrating to not be able to help on the issue that is affecting, I say, all parts of DeKalb County,” Commissioner Robert Patrick said. “It’s in Dunwoody, off of Dunwoody Club Drive. It’s in Doraville, off the access road off of Flowers Road. It’s in Chamblee. It’s in downtown Tucker. It’s in unincorporated, under the bridges, around the bushes. Those folks need help.”
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