Dem convention boots homeless families from motels

...and private charities are working to give them shelter.

The Charlotte Observer reports:

Mecklenburg County, the Wells Fargo Foundation and the Temple Beth El Religious School are among the contributors to a $20,000 fund to help keep low-income families from being displaced from motels by rising rates during the Democratic National Convention.

The motel fund is part of a multi-tier approach homeless services agencies unveiled Monday in anticipation of as many as 100 families being displaced.

Salvation Army officials say they already had heard from five families that lost lodging, including three that have moved temporarily into the Center of Hope shelter for women and children. Two of those families are headed by single fathers who have been raising their children in motels, officials said.

The plan calls for using the motel fund to keep as many families as possible in their current motels, by either negotiating cheaper rents or supplementing the money paid by the families.

In situations where a deal can’t be worked out, the Urban Ministry Center has revived its winter-time Room in the Inn program, in which congregations offer beds on a rotating basis...

Urban Ministry officials said about 36 congregations have offered to help, including Covenant Presbyterian Church. In all, the program expects to have nearly 800 beds available for families over eight nights.