Norfolk’s main emergency homeless shelter received $850,000 in federal funding on Monday. U.S. Representative Bobby Scott delivered the money to the city to overhaul the facility on Tidewater Drive, known as The Center.
The facility has 50 rooms and 100 beds. It was an Econo Lodge motel that the city refurbished, and is operated by the Norfolk Community Services Board (CSB). In addition to providing year-round emergency beds, the location offers vital daytime services, outreach case management and extreme weather overflow spaces for unhoused single adults.
Local leaders highlighted the investment as a critical step forward for the city's sheltering infrastructure. Mayor Kenny Alexander said the $850,000 will bring essential upgrades that improve the facility's day sheltering and overflow capacity, strengthening the city's ability to provide localized services.
Rep. Scott said that while national housing market shortages persist, boosting direct onsite support resources, job training and medical clinics is the most effective local strategy to help individuals achieve long-term stability and independence.
The core of the upcoming infrastructure overhaul targets daily food operations and long-term budget sustainability. Norfolk CSB Executive Director Nathan Woodard explained that the federal dollars significantly change the shelter's financial and logistical baseline.
“Right now, we are paying approximately $600,000 a year to outsource a kitchen that we have different private providers bringing meals to us,” Woodard said. “Now these funds will allow us to build a kitchen on site and cook the meals 24/7 for all the residents who are there at the center.”
Woodard noted that the expansion project is entering its initial design phase, with total construction and revitalization efforts at the facility estimated to take 12 to 18 months to complete.
The plan is to build out the space needed to introduce new services alongside the kitchen. The capital improvements will allow the center to bring in onsite peer recovery staff — individuals who were unsheltered — to build direct connections with current residents.
The expansion will also scale up the facility's economic support programs by adding dedicated classroom areas for employment services. There, residents can learn career skills, secure jobs and establish the financial stability required to maintain their own housing.
Woodard emphasized that the new resources are designed to strengthen the facility's pipeline to long-term independence. The center does not enforce a strict time limit on stays; instead, staff work to build residents' skills until they are ready to transition out.
From there, the CSB uses its internal Permanent Supportive Housing program to graduate residents directly into standard apartments across Norfolk. Under the program, individuals sign their own independent lease agreements directly with local landlords.
The structural improvements are funded through the federal fiscal year 2026 appropriations package.
