Lake Norman Herald Weekly
by Heather Somerville
Volume 8, Number 21, May 29-June 4, 2009
Five years after she dedicated herself to serving the homeless, Dr. Lee Beth Lindquist can finally see a glimpse of her mission coming to fruition. That mission is a 4,000-square foot, ranch-style house on Northcross Drive in Huntersville. When it opens, the house will serve as a transitional shelter to homeless women and their children in the Lake Norman area.
It’s been a mission fraught with challenges and more than a few setbacks. But with the support of the community and by staying true to the name of her mission, Lindquist is at last nearly ready to present Hope House to the north Mecklenburg community.
“It’s a dream come true, not just for the people who believe in it and have worked so hard on it but for the people who are going to use it. And that’s what thrills me,” Lindquist said. “There’s excitement. And having taken a long time coming and being this close to the next phase of having occupants, it’s overwhelming. It’s chilling. It’s unbelievable.”
Hope House has almost completed its second phase, outfitting the house with all the amenities needed to house 12 women and their children for up to six months. The house could be open as early as next month to provide shelter and job and life skills training to north Mecklenburg-area women in crisis.
Though Lindquist spearheaded the initiative, the community has embraced Hope House. Lindquist bought the house with her own money in 2004, but volunteers, using community donations, have renovated and furnished the house. “I didn’t do this by myself in any form or fashion,” Lindquist said.
Fran Mathay, interim executive director for Hope House Foundation, has dedicated herself to the set-up and operational details of the house, plugging into the network of service agencies in the north Mecklenburg community.
“The house, to me, is a gift to the community by the community,” Mathay said. “This could not have happened without this entire north end really getting behind it.”
Despite the challenges of opening a nonprofit organization dependent upon community donations during a crippling recession, the community has offered the funding, time and labor. Local charities have donated goods. Businesses and clubs have raised funds with wine tastings and art shows. Local businesses have offered appliances, bedding, kitchenware and furniture, and local contractors have provided construction, electrical, plumbing and landscaping services. And church groups, business leaders and individuals in the community have volunteered their services to Hope House Foundation. “We have something that is just so inherently needed, and people want to help,” Mathay said.
A service long needed
As a physician at Lakeside Family Physicians, Lindquist recognized years ago the need for transitional housing in north Mecklenburg.
“In my practice, personally, I’ve seen you can be
one step away from a crisis,” Lindquist said. “And I
think women and children are the most vulnerable because
it’s women and children who most often don’t
have marketable skills.
“It’s heartbreaking, because you can’t predict what
might happen. You can’t predict a medical catastrophe.
You can’t predict the economic catastrophe that will
put you in this situation. And I’ve seen it happen,
year after year.”
Lindquist, who has served on medical missions in
Central America, saw the house at 15604 Northcross
Drive go on the market and jumped at the opportunity to
serve her local community.
No facility for housing the homeless operates
within a 30-mile radius of Lake Norman, Mathay said.
The homeless shelter network in Charlotte is overcapacity
and incapable of keeping up with the social needs
that accompany north Mecklenburg’s exploding population.
“The perception is that when you hear the word
‘Lake Norman,’ everybody hears ‘money,’ ‘affluence,’
” Mathay said. “They do not understand that there are
people who are truly at need.”
Soon after Lindquist purchased the house, which
sits on almost four acres, for $296,000, Hurricane
Katrina hit. In 2005, Lindquist opened up the house to a
family of 13 Katrina survivors who were seeking emergency
housing. Sheltering Katrina survivors was a slight
detour from Lindquist’s plans for Hope House, but
nonetheless, it fulfilled her mission of helping the
homeless.
“You keep the big picture in your head. You want
to help people without a home,” Lindquist said.
But the family inflicted severe damage the year
they lived there, according to Lindquist, requiring her to
replace carpet and sub flooring and make other repairs.
But Lindquist’s graciousness and modesty – she
declined requests to have her picture included in this
article – has kept the vision for Hope House alive,
Mathay said.
Overcoming Challenges
Hope House was originally scheduled to open by
Christmas last year. Then, the foundation planned a
January grand opening. But Hope House needed rezoning
– from single-family residential to commercial
congregational housing – and the facility didn’t receive
its certificate of occupancy from Mecklenburg County
until February. Lindquist said the foundation struggled
to meet the town’s and county’s requirements for landscaping,
parking and sidewalks.
At the house’s final inspection, Lindquist learned
the building must be handicap accessible on the first
and second floors – an amenity that cost more time and
money.
“The only surprise to me was the hoops you have to
jump through,” she said. “I knew it was going to take a
long time. This was foreign waters to me. But having to
help someone who doesn’t have a home isn’t.”
But, at last, Hope House is nearly furnished and
ready, as early as this summer, to shelter the women
whom Lindquist has been so eager to
serve for five years now.
“We have a house that any middleclass,
middle-income family would be
happy to live in, nevermind the homeless,”
said Lindquist. “It’s taken longer,
but everything happens for a reason.”
Hope House wouldn’t be so close to
completion today if not for Mathay. A
south Charlotte resident who has worked
in the nonprofit sector since the early
1970s, Mathay pushed through all obstacles.
She works for Hope House Foundation
for a “sweetheart of a deal,” she said,
earning a small hourly rate without benefits
and doing anything to get the doors
open.
“I’m everything,” Mathay said.
“You’re looking at it. I do the administration.
I do the grant writing. Whatever it
takes, I do it. If I need to scrub the floors,
I’m in.”
At 65, Mathay considers her role with Hope House
an extension of her entire professional life. “All
throughout my career I have always served my community,”
she said. “This is really a nice fit.”
Pam Boileau, a member of the Hope House Foundation
board, worked with Mathay in marketing and
suggested she consider serving as Hope House interim
executive director. Boileau is one of six directors, a
diverse group chaired by Lindquist and including a real
estate agent, general contractor, attorney and accountant.
Mathay accepted the job in November.
The board’s diversity has helped to create a wellrounded
vision for Hope House, Mathay said. The
house will be far more than a shelter for the homeless.
Women will learn self-sufficiency and the skills to
provide for themselves and their children.
“The vision will be to have women and their children
up to 12 years of age and give them a place to have
a new start,” Lindquist said. “Not just a shelter where
they can go in and have a roof over their head for the
night, which is needed, but to give the opportunity for
change so they can go forward independently.”
Hope House residents will be expected to meet
benchmarks during the six months they’re allowed to
stay in the house to prove that they are finding a job,
childcare and transportation. That independence,
Lindquist said, will provide women in economic crisis
the chance to recover and the chronically homeless the
chance to break the cycle.
Hope House will “prevent more homelessness” and
help others escape it, Lindquist said.
The women will get some training in Hope House’s
learning center, equipped with computers and a plasma
TV, made possible with a $25,000 grant from the
AT&T Foundation.
“This (the learning center) is the heart of the house,
because it says to both your oldest and your youngest
that technology and education are your fishing pole.
This is a very critical area to me,” Mathay said.
Agencies like the Ada Jenkins Center and Davidson
Housing Coalition Women will refer homeless woman
to Hope House. Because its address is well known,
Hope House won’t accept victims of domestic abuse.
Because Hope House doesn’t have adequate treatment
services, it won’t accept women with substance
abuse problems.
Women at the house will receive free medical and
dental services through Lindquist and Lakeside Family
Physicians and mental health services through other
agencies.
Women and their children must treat their temporary
home respectfully. Women must pay a percentage
of their income, and if they don’t have income, they
must try to find a job, using the foundation’s resources.
Women and children also must help maintain the
house and grounds and follow house rules.
“Give them something very nice to understand why
they need to get out, but you can’t make it so comfortable
that they want to stay,” Mathay said. “It’s a responsibility
to stay here.”
Hope House still faces one hurdle – finding the
money to hire a 24-7 staff.
Mathay is looking for grants to hire a fulltime
resident director and part-time case manager. Once she
has funding and staff, Mathay can open Hope House’s
doors.
“Whatever our need is, the universe opens up for
us,” she said. “As soon as you start concentrating on
something that you need, it happens.”