Community Shelter of Union County

What Community Shelter of Union County does

Community Shelter of Union County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social services organization headquartered at 160 Meadow Street in Monroe, North Carolina, serving residents of Union County. Founded in 1985 as an informal volunteer-staffed winter shelter operated by the City of Monroe, the organization formalized as the Union County Council on Homeless Prevention in 1993 and rebranded to its current name in 2018. The agency's mission is to make episodes of homelessness and food insecurity brief, rare, and one-time-only, which it pursues through a unified emergency response, food, and rehousing model.

Its core programs span emergency shelter (a 90-bed two-building facility opened in June 2019 with a seven-bedroom family wing), three daily meals through The Soup Kitchen (no certification required), a monthly Drive Thru Pantry distributing 311,000 meals/year, a Senior Food Boxes program for low-income residents age 60+, and Rapid Rehousing that works with local landlords to provide deposits, moving expenses, and short-to-medium-term rental assistance. Supporting services include the Employment Lab (career counseling, GED, employer matching, and certification tracks via community college partnerships), the Home Again furniture program (67 households furnished annually), the Step It Up Bicycle Program (transportation for employment retention), and Warming/Cooling Stations opened during dangerous weather. Quantified outcomes include 26,500+ overnight shelter stays/year, 116 individuals rehoused/year, and an 83% rate of rehousing participants avoiding repeat homelessness.

The business model is donation- and grant-funded: services are provided free of charge to clients, with revenue sourced from individual contributions, corporate donations, community foundation grants, and special events such as the Chuck Norwood Memorial Golf Tournament. The organization had an annual operating budget of $1.5 million with 30 employees as of June 2019. Go-to-market is community-led: heavy reliance on volunteers to provide and serve meals, staff the drive-thru pantry, and support shelter operations, complemented by organic social media presence, email newsletters, and event-driven fundraising. There is no proprietary technology platform; service delivery is direct, in-person, and facility-based at the Monroe location.

Name

Community Shelter of Union County

Legal name

Community Shelter of Union County

Website

https://unionshelter.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Shelter of Union County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Monroe, North Carolina, providing emergency shelter (90 beds), three daily meals, and rapid rehousing services to Union County residents experiencing homelessness and food insecurity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Homeless and Social Services

NAICS

Temporary Shelters (624221), Community Food Services (624210), Community Housing Services (62422)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Homelessness Prevention, Shelter & Supportive Housing Services (BPAIANAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Emergency shelter services
• Homeless services
• Food assistance programs
• Rapid rehousing support
• Community social services

Headquarters

HQ city

Monroe

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The organization operates as a 501c3 nonprofit relying on donations, grants, and charitable contributions from individuals, businesses, and community partners to fund operations.
2. Special Events: Annual fundraising events such as the Chuck Norwood Memorial Golf Tournament generate revenue for operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Community Shelter of Union County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers emergency overnight shelter (90 beds including a family wing), daily meals through a Soup Kitchen and a monthly Drive Thru Pantry, and a Rapid Rehousing program that moves clients into permanent housing with rental assistance. Supporting services include Senior Food Boxes, the Employment Lab, the Home Again furniture program, and the Step It Up Bicycle Program, all provided free of charge to Union County residents.

Product overview

Community Shelter of Union County is a nonprofit social services organization offering emergency shelter, food assistance, and rehousing programs. The organization operates a unified service model consisting of Emergency Shelter as the front-door access point, combined with Rapid Rehousing for permanent housing placement, and Food Services including The Soup Kitchen (providing three daily meals), Drive Thru Pantry (monthly food distribution), and Senior Food Boxes. Supporting these core services, the organization provides the Step It Up Bicycle Program for transportation, the Employment Lab for job placement assistance, and the Home Again Program for furniture provision to rehoused families. All programs work together to make episodes of homelessness and food insecurity brief, rare, and one time only.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emergency Shelter
• Rapid Rehousing Program that quickly ends a person's homelessness by helping them find and move into a home in their own community. Works with local landlords to secure affordable housing options and provides financial assistance for deposits, moving expenses, and short-to-medium-term rental assistance. Rehoused 116 individuals annually with 83% avoiding repeat homelessness.
• The Soup Kitchen
• Drive Thru Pantry
• Senior Food Boxes
• Step It Up Bicycle Program
• Employment Lab
• Home Again Program
• Warming + Cooling Stations

Quantifiable outcome

• 83% of rehousing participants have avoided repeat homelessness
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Second Harvest Food Bank of MetrolinacoreOthersFood donation partner providing items for Senior Food Boxes program. Food items are donated by Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina for distribution to low-income senior residents.
• Local Landlords and Property ManagerscoreOthersCommunity partners who work with the Rapid Rehousing Program to secure affordable housing options for emergency shelter residents. The shelter financially assists with deposits, moving expenses, and short-to-medium-term rental assistance.
• Community College PartnerssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal community college providing certification-based career opportunities (Medical Assistant, Phlebotomy, Cosmetology, Heating/AC, Welding) accessed by Employment Lab participants.
• Local EmployerssupportingOthersArea employers recruited by the Employment Lab to match participants to available jobs and education opportunities.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Roof Above: Charlotte, NC-based nonprofit operating emergency shelter, rehousing, and food services across Mecklenburg County. Comparable community-shelter model serving a similar Carolinas catchment with overlapping programs (shelter, rapid rehousing, employment) and similar reliance on community donations and volunteers.
• Durham Rescue Mission: Durham, NC nonprofit operating emergency shelter, food programs, and recovery services. Comparable faith-affiliated-tinged community shelter with overlapping rehousing and meal programs in the Carolinas region.
• Samaritan House: San Mateo County, CA nonprofit running emergency shelter, food distribution, rehousing, and case management on a comparable integrated model. Direct service-model peer demonstrating how the 'shelter + food + rehousing' framework operates in a higher-cost-of-living market.
• Crisis Assistance Ministry: Charlotte, NC nonprofit providing emergency assistance including shelter referral, clothing, furniture, and rent/utility aid. Strong program overlap (Home Again-style furniture program and rent-assistance rehousing) and similar donor-funded community-service model in the Carolinas.
• Urban Ministries of Wake County: Raleigh, NC-based community organization running emergency shelter, food pantry, and rehousing programs in Wake County. Closest in structure to Community Shelter of Union County: a unified emergency-shelter-plus-food-services model with rehousing pathways, serving a single contiguous NC county.

Broad incumbents

• The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte: Regional arm of the larger Salvation Army network operating emergency shelter, food service, and rehousing programs across the Carolinas. Larger, multi-program incumbent in the same social-services space; overlaps the anchor's core services but operates at materially greater scale and geographic reach.
• Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte: Regional Catholic Charities operating food pantries, refugee services, housing assistance, and emergency support across western North Carolina. Comparable services (food, housing, rehousing-like case management) at broader geographic and programmatic scale; serves overlapping community populations in western NC.

Others

• Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont: Regional Goodwill operating employment and job-training programs across Charlotte and surrounding counties. Adjacent peer through the Employment Lab-style workforce-development mission; not a shelter provider but a comparable community-employment-services model that competes for the same workforce-development grant dollars.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Union_Shelter
• Facebookfacebook.com/unioncountycommunityshelter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-shelter-of-union-county
• Instagraminstagram.com/community_shelter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Shelter of Union County