RALEIGH, N.C. – SECU continues its efforts to address homelessness in this state.
Before a crowd of supporters in Winston-Salem, SECU Foundation Board Chair McKinley Wooten, Jr. and the Director of Operations of The SECU Commons, Brian Hahne, unveiled the new signage for The SECU Commons, celebrating the efforts of State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) members to help address the issue of homelessness.
Representatives from the North Carolina Housing Foundation (NCHF) and the City of Winston-Salem were on hand for the special event, along with numerous SECU Foundation officials, credit union staff and advisory board volunteers.
The SECU Foundation presented The SECU Commons with a $1-million challenge grant in November 2014 to help NCHF complete the development of campus facilities for the program aimed at assisting three populations at risk of chronic homelessness – homeless families, youth aging out of foster care and autism spectrum young adults.
“As we learned about the challenges these populations face and the potential of The SECU Commons program to help them, we felt this initiative was an ideal fit and one that would symbolize SECU and the Foundation’s guiding philosophy of ‘People Helping People,’” said Cindy Zimmerman, SECU Clemmons branch Advisory Board Chair. “SECU members care about helping others and share NCHF’s vision and goal to transition these at risk men and women into self-sufficient contributors within their community.”
The SECU Commons campus, which is served by existing bus routes, is housed on a 16-acre site with living, training and office facilities located just five minutes from downtown Winston-Salem. Highlights of the campus, which currently utilizes four of the 16 acres, include: 15 condominiums, a 20-bed multipurpose building with a commercial kitchen, 2 stand-alone houses, a 4,800 sq. ft. conference center with training rooms, a medical office and a 10-office administrative facility.
The SECU Commons will complete development of the campus and expects to begin receiving referrals from their agency partners and housing participants in the program before the end of the year.