The Bethesda Center for the Homeless began in September 1987 as a partnership between the First Presbyterian Church and the Forsyth/Stokes Mental Health Center and was located in the old Patterson Avenue Mission building.
The Missions Committee of the First Presbyterian Church governed Bethesda until 1988. The Center was incorporated in January of 1989 as a 501(c) 3 corporation. Funding for the Center’s operations was provided by numerous area churches as well as by private and government grants.
The initial purpose of the Center was to offer safe refuge for homeless persons in the community during the daytime hours. Basic services were also provided, including those of the Mental Health Center which conducted its outreach program for the homeless from the Center’s location.
In 1992, William Adkerson became the Center’s Executive Director. In the eight years that followed, the Center’s programs grew to include full supportive services for its homeless clients to assist them in working towards self-sufficiency. In July 1999, Bethesda became a Forsyth County United Way partner agency.
During 2000, the Center assumed program and financial responsibility for the “winter” emergency night shelter program previously sponsored by the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Council on Services to the Homeless and expanded it to include a year-round women’s emergency night shelter. The shelter was operated in a new building which was constructed by the City of Winston-Salem and the building using $350,000 in Federal Block Grants funding providing through efforts of the City and Federal agencies as well as many community supporters. The original building continued to be used for shelter and office purposes.
During 2002, the Lighthouse Ministries closed causing the remaining shelters to house very quickly an additional 100 men. The Salvation Army assumed responsibility for housing single women, as Bethesda significantly increased the number of men it served.
In December 2005 Bethesda launched a $2.4 million dollar capital campaign to build a night shelter for women and a new day shelter building. The campaign successfully concluded in April 2006. When the women’s shelter was completed in November 2006, the original shelter was demolished to make way for the construction of the new day shelter, completed in December 2008.
Today, Bethesda’s leadership in providing services to the homeless throughout Forsyth County continues. Its mission to “provide supportive services leading to independent living” gives hope to countless men and women annually as moving from homelessness to housing become a reality.
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