The Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority (FMHA) invited the community to celebrate the grand reopening of the Old Wilmington Road Neighborhood Resource Center located at 229 Lincoln Drive in Fayetteville on Thursday, May 15, at 10:30 am.
A celebration nearly a decade in the making, the facility has been a work in progress since suffering damage from Hurricane Matthew in 2016. After operating at a limited capacity while having minor repairs done bit by bit, FMHA staff finally had to shut the facility down fully in 2023.
“I just want to say thank you to all of our community partners that have been providing services virtually, we did a little temporary work prior to getting the grant to make it so that we can still operate a little bit,” shared FMHA Director of Operations Teresa Anthony. “Now you get to come back, you get to bring your training, your education classes, right back into the building.”
Renovations were made possible thanks to a grant of more than $636,000 provided by the North Carolina Office of Recovery & Resiliency and their Public Housing Restoration Fund.
The fund is part of NCORR's Community Development Program initiative to assist Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) affected by disasters. The 16 North Carolina counties federally designated as "Most Impacted and Distressed" (MID) due to damage from Hurricanes Matthew and/or Florence are eligible to apply for program funding.
“Because of the dollars that the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency have provided, we were able to come in, get the contractors to come in and just bring this building back to life,” continued Anthony.
The Public Housing Restoration Fund has awarded $14.5 million to four state public housing agencies for projects that will help meet critical public housing needs in eastern North Carolina.
“Of the $15 million or so that went out in this round of funding that was provided to the state, this is the first project to get finished. Congratulations for being first, congratulations for being standout in so many ways. And we just wanted to say thank you for the opportunity to take the dollars that were granted to our state for long-term recovery from the effects of the recent storms and put them into really good use to serve the community,” said Tracey Colores, community development director for the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
The newly finished 8,161 square-foot facility holds nine offices for the FMHA case work team, a fresh reception area, a small store for FMHA residents, a full kitchen, dining area and an open classroom space.
Following the ribbon cutting held by the Greater Fayetteville Chamber, attendees were welcomed to take tours of the facility and to a resource fair featuring 14 vendors. Organizations in attendance include the Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity, representatives from the North Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation and Better Health of Cumberland County.
For more information on the FMHA, their services and office hours, find them online here. You can also get the latest updates on their Facebook page here.
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