Drippy ceiling, hanging wires: Why Rock Hill shelter still needs help after hail storm

Brown murky water drips from a stained ceiling tile in a room with pots, pans and kitchen supplies.

In an adjacent room, Disney princesses decorate a pastel room with a dozen toys hunkered in a corner.

In the main room, where the people experiencing homelessness gather during the day, tarps cover their loveseats and dozens of tote bins with styrofoam cups, supplies and decor pile up on water-stained floors.

Months after a Rock Hill hail storm that destroyed homes and businesses in April, homeless shelter Family Promise of York County is still rebuilding and asking for donations to ensure it can house people again. It will take about four to six weeks to complete ongoing repairs after the shelter sustained damage to its roof.

The shelter has turned people away as it’s worked on repairs. The individuals and families that used the facility when the storm came through have all moved on. Family Promise is only a daytime center. Clients sleep at area churches.

“We have to tell them over the phone, ‘I’m sorry, but we’re not at a place where we can help you,’” Starnes said. “You can hear it in their voices that the disappointment in the urgency in their situation that they need help, and so it’s heartbreaking to have to tell them over the phone that, ‘Although I want to help you, we’re just not a place at the moment that it’s safe to have you here’.”

Homeless shelter still springs leaks

Family Promise has a flat roof, and water and hail from the storm seeped into the layers of the roofing, causing a drippy ceiling and the potential for mold, Starnes said. Workers ripped tiles off the floor and got rid of drywall. But new leaks spring on a regular basis.

A bathroom has become unusable. The kitchen stays unoccupied because of hanging wires. Only the office area is safe.

It’s becoming unsafe, Starnes said.

Starnes said there have been delays in repairing the roof because of discrepancies with insurance and construction estimates. Every day the work is not repaired, it becomes more damaged. That’s partly because workers surveying the damaged roof are also adding to its deterioration.

“And so when they go up there to fix our roof, there’s the potential that all the water that is stuck inside the roof will then start coming down inside the building again,” she said.

How people can help homeless shelter

While repairs are ongoing, staff and volunteers have boxed many of the shelter’s items so a moving company can haul the items to storage, Starnes said. Staff are completing office work from home.

To prepare for the move, the shelter is asking the public to supply tote bins. The shelter also has opened a Walmart wishlist for the totes and cleaning supplies.

“We have a lot of donations and things in this building that if they got wet when they’re doing the repairs, it’s going to ruin them,” Starnes said.

The shelter is also asking for monetary donations.

“You know, monetary donations always help because there are some things that insurance is not going to cover that we’re going to need to replace,” Starnes said.

Much of that is food.

People staying at the shelter have been understanding, Starnes said. But they’ve already gone through one traumatic experience that led to their current status. So, losing a second home adds to that trauma, she said.

While there, shelter guests have helped mop up wet floors and empty buckets, Starnes said. Now she’s hoping to get them back into the shelter quickly.

“There are still homeless families out there on the streets that we could have in the shelter, but we’ve got to get this taken care of so that we can help them,” she said. “And that’s why the urgency is there for us to get this taken care of.”

To donate money to Family Promise of York County, visit familypromiseyc.org or call 803-329-2456.