The 70 or so children who have spent this week with their families and others at a local shelter face their first weekend away from the place they once called home.
The situation is certainly not ideal, but Vance County Schools Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett told WIZS News earlier Friday that district staff has put together some activities for the children to help get through the next couple of days when they’re not in school and things are far from “normal.”
“For the weekend, we are providing totes with art supplies, reading materials, board games and indoor/outdoor physical education items,” Bennett said.
On Monday, about 40 families moved to a shelter that was set up in the gym on the former campus of Eaton Johnson Middle School.
They had been extended-stay residents at a hotel located on Parham Road – some for longer than a year.
Earlier this week, Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott said she was encouraged to see the community support as churches, schools and city and county leaders have rallied to create a caring network for the families who had to move to the shelter.
Henderson City Manager Terrell Blackmon said the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is in charge of the shelter, with the cooperation of Vance County. The city’s role is limited and one of support to NCDHSS and other agencies in charge, Blackmon explained. “Our role at this point is to be an advocate for the families and to ensure that the motel remains closed for occupancy until the owners mitigate the violations at the property and bring it into compliance with the state building code.”
The city issued a zoning violation in addition to various fire code violations, Blackmon said, the majority of which are related to the state building code, which falls under the county inspections department.
The circumstances have been challenging, to be sure, but Bennett said that the district has worked to provide food, transportation and more to the children who attend Vance County Schools and their families.
“All of the VCS students who are staying in the shelter are still attending school- we have rerouted our buses to ensure they are picked up and delivered back to the shelter each day,” Bennett said in an email.
Members of the district’s Students Services team members are helping the shelter to get the children off to school in the morning and to greet them up on their return in the afternoon, she said.
The Student Behavioral Health Team is working with parents to identify new clothing that has been donated for the children, and breakfast and lunch are provided at no charge each day.
“Students who are displaced are identified as McKinney-Vento and additional resources are being added when needed. The district has also had a social worker, nurse and counselor at the shelter each day this week to support the families and help connect them with community resources,” Bennett explained.
“We are there to support in any way we can,” Blackmon said of the city’s response to the situation. But, he added, “the services currently most needed by these families at the shelter are provided by the state, county and local nonprofit agencies.”