TO THE EDITOR:

For almost 50 years the Inter-Faith Council has led Orange County in addressing the hunger and homelessness that are as much a part of our community as UNC’s ivied halls and Chapel Hill’s quiet neighborhoods. Since 1985, various task forces have attempted to locate a men’s residential facility that could offer a greater range of services than our current location, the Old Municipal Building, can provide.

Now — thanks to UNC trustees, the Town of Chapel Hill, congregations, business leaders, IFC staff and volunteers — this facility is planned for 1315 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., a site buffered from residential neighborhoods that will afford clients access to public transportation for jobs, classes, social services and a safe haven in which to learn skills and receive support needed to resume useful places in the community.

Because I’ve been an IFC volunteer and board member for over a decade, I see this development as a dream come true. But many in the community see it as a threat and are determined to derail the project. I understand the fear that underlies such opposition.

I invite those who oppose the IFC’s plans to join us for lunch at Community House. You will see that IFC’s clients are not an amorphous, threatening mass, but just folks, many of them in unfortunate circumstances, but as worthy of a place in this community — and as willing to be a good neighbor — as you or me.

Ann Henley

Chapel Hill Resident