Davidson County First Hope Ministries receives $1 million donation from local legislators for new homeless shelter

Sharon Myers, The Dispatch
·3 min read
Rep. Larry Potts and Sen. Steve Jarvis presented a check for $1 million to First Hope Ministries to help fund the new homeless shelter on Robbins Street next to the Salvation Army of Davidson County. Pictured are Rep. Potts; Ashley Phillips, executive director of DC First Hope Ministries; Sandy Motley, director of Medical Ministries of Davidson County and Rep. Jarvis.

Davidson County First Hope Ministries, formerly Crisis Ministry of Davidson County, is one step closer to building its new homeless shelter after a $1 million donation from county legislators Rep. Larry Potts and Sen. Steve Jarvis.

“No child grown, man or woman should face the hardship of not having a stable home. That's why the office of Representative Larry Potts and myself are pleased to announce the partnership with Davidson County First Hope Ministries and DC Connect with a $1,000,000 to help tackle the crisis here in Davidson County,” said Jarvis.

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“We appreciate these gentlemen’s dedication to our community and our county. You just don't know how much this means,” said Ashley Phillips, executive director of DC First Hope Ministries during a presentation at the future location of the new shelter on Tuesday.

DC First Hope Ministries is currently in the middle of a $5 million campaign to finance building the new shelter which will also be a hub for a group of non-profit and governmental agencies called DC Connects that provide services to Davidson County residents, including the Salvation Army of Davidson County and Davidson County Medical Ministries.

“This is going to be more than a homeless shelter; this is going to be a hope shelter,” said Potts. “Somewhere you can get your life straightened out, maybe go to college and get a job. Get your family and your life together,” said Potts.

The new building will be constructed on Robbins Street in Lexington adjacent to the Salvation Army on West Ninth Avenue.

Much of this project would not have been possible without the generosity of the Salvation Army of Davidson County and other individuals.

In 2019 the Salvation Army of Davidson County received approval to sell the undeveloped property adjacent to its location on Ninth Avenue to DC First Hope Ministries at a discounted price as part of the organization’s mission planning study.

Eddie Lothridge, president of First Hope Ministries Board of Directors, also personally purchased a parcel of land off of Eighth Avenue that was directly adjacent to the Salvation Army land and donated it as an additional property for the new shelter.

The Salvation Army is also planning to expand its current kitchen and feeding facility to accommodate the food services for the new shelter. The new Salvation Army expansion will also be used as a white flag shelter in emergency weather situations when the shelter may be full.

The $1 million donation was part of the American Rescue Plan Act funding allocated to help communities recover after the pandemic. Jarvis and Potts said along with donations to other countywide projects and organizations, it was important to support DC First Ministries and DC Connects.

“We as a delegation work on the priorities of our county and this has been ongoing priority with the City of Lexington to move the homeless shelter. We had funds that we probably won't ever have again with American recovery plan, so this was important to us,” said Potts.

Phillips said she is very appreciative of the donation, but also wants the public to understand they still need the support of the community to raise additional funds for the building project.

She said DC First Ministries still needs approximately $3 million to begin construction of the new shelter. The organization plans to have several other fundraising opportunities in the future, including one on June 30 at Childress Vineyards.

“We are going to be able to go up 32% on our capacity level,” said Phillips. “Right now, we serve 88 people, but we will be able to serve up to 120 folks and families in the new shelter. That is dramatic to us because of the number of folks we turn away on a daily basis. Due to us being the only shelter in Davidson County, we need our community to make this happen so that we can get more people off the street.”

General news reporter Sharon Myers can be reached at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter @LexDispatchSM.

This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Davidson County First Hope Ministries get $1 million for homeless shelter