History of the Shelter
The Uptown Day Shelter, Inc.
was chartered in 1985 to be a day shelter for homeless
individuals and families needing access to community
services and resources while seeking basic care, nurture and
shelter. Having begun in the basement of First United
Methodist Church, the program soon moved into donated
warehouse space on the corner of East Eighth Street and
North College Street.
 After a study of homelessness
in 1987, the day shelter was invited to relocate to 1210
North Tryon Street to become a part of the Men’s Emergency
and Transitional Shelter (METS) in partnership with the
Salvation Army who relocated their former Transient Lodge
from West Seventh Street to North Tryon Street. After less
than one year, METS was dissolved and the Uptown Day Shelter
became the sole provider of emergency and transitional
shelter for homeless men at 1210 North Tryon Street.
Originally containing 300 beds
for homeless men, this number became unmanageable and the
number of beds was reduced to 188 in 1990 and then
increased to 200 in 1993. In 2004, we increased our
overflow capacity to 55, bringing our total capacity to 255
clients. Since 1992, the Shelter has
focused on providing rehabilitation services and resources
to help make a difference in the lives of homeless men. |
