Tenants Begin Moving Into SECU The Rise on Clanton, Apartments by Roof Above

Khris became the first tenant of SECU The Rise on Clayton.

Charlotte’s first adaptive reuse, permanent supportive housing for 88 individuals
experiencing chronic homelessness

CHARLOTTE, N.C., (August 3, 2022) – Last week, Roof Above began moving in the first tenants of SECU The Rise on Clanton, Apartments by Roof Above. SECU The Rise on Clanton will provide permanent supportive housing for 88 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and is anticipated to make a significant impact on chronic homelessness in our community. According to the latest Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing and Homelessness Dashboard, there are 422 people in Mecklenburg County experiencing chronic homelessness. These are people with a disabling condition who have experienced homelessness for at least a year. Ten of the first tenants will be individuals who were displaced from the North End Encampment when it was cleared and were moved to a Mecklenburg County-funded motel-based shelter.

SECU The Rise on Clanton is Charlotte’s first adaptive reuse, permanent supportive housing solution. Adaptive reuse is the process of renovating buildings that have outlived their original purposes and modifying them for different functions. The pandemic revealed an innovative opportunity to purchase and convert an underutilized hotel into affordable housing, making adaptive reuse a tool to serve some of our community’s most vulnerable residents.

In December 2020, Roof Above announced the purchase of the hotel at the intersection of Clanton Road and Interstate 77. Through a partnership with the Salvation Army Center of Hope, the hotel served an immediate need as an emergency shelter for women and families. In May 2021, Roof Above began construction on the hotel, renovating the hotel rooms into apartments including the addition of kitchens, and building an addition to provide space for on-site support services. Beyond the affordable housing, tenants will have onsite access to case managers, a full-time nurse, a learning lab, and community space for support activities. Tenants will be primarily selected through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Coordinated Entry process, which uses a common assessment to identify the most vulnerable people in need of permanent supportive housing. Tenants will move in through a phased approach, six to eight people each week, to ensure they are fully supported in their transition.

Many generous gifts made the project a reality, including $2 million from State Employees Credit Union (SECU), $2 million from the City of Charlotte, $1.5 million from Covenant Presbyterian Church, $1 million from the Lowe’s Foundation, $1 million from the Springsteen Foundation, and a significant gift from John McKibbon and the McKibbon Family Foundation. The total project cost was just over $13 million, inclusive of the purchase price, renovation of the existing building, and construction of a wing to provide onsite case management and health care support. We are grateful to our operating partners like Mecklenburg County for funding case management for tenants and Novant Health for supporting our full-time nurse and other healthcare needs of tenants.

“This opening comes with our deepest appreciation to everyone who accepted the challenge to dream big and meet the moment to make this new apartment community possible. We hold to the vision that everyone is worthy of the safety, stability, and dignity of a home. Together, and one life at a time, we end homelessness,”
said Liz Clasen-Kelly, Roof Above CEO.

With the opening of SECU The Rise on Clanton, Roof Above now provides nearly 700 units of supportive housing within Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Generally, tenants pay 30% of their income towards rent plus basic utilities. Learn more about the permanent supportive housing options and eligibility by visiting
https://www.roofabove.org/permanent-supportive-housing/.

The hotel conversion was led by JE Dunn Construction with architecture by Axiom Architecture, interior design by ODA, and project management by McKibbon Places

Roof Above is an interfaith nonprofit with the mission of uniting the community to end homelessness, one life at a time. The organization’s vision is that every person has the safety, stability, and dignity of a home. The organization operates a day services center, three year-round shelters, nearly 700 units of supportive housing, and a treatment program for substance use disorders. For information, please visit www.RoofAbove.org.

Media Contacts: Melinda Wilshire, mwilshire@roofabove.org 443.540.0593; Randall Hitt, rhitt@roofabove.org; 704.618.1329.
Liz Clasen-Kelly will be available for scheduled interviews.