For the first time, Suffolk is running its own shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
The shelter, serving single individuals without housing, opened Friday after major renovations. But Suffolk still has a lot to learn about shelter operations and what they will cost, said Interim Deputy City Manager Gerry Jones.
“We’re feeling our way through the early stages of it,” he said Thursday during a tour. “What may work in Norfolk or Virginia Beach may not work here.”
Suffolk began planning to turn the Regal Inn hotel into a shelter in 2023 and bought the dilapidated property in 2024. The city paid for it with federal and state funds totaling more than $1.9 million.
Suffolk hoped to open the shelter last summer, but had to front the money for significant renovations while waiting for the state's share, which Jones said stretched out the project.
“It was in bad shape,” Jones said. “There were cracks through the wall where you could see sunlight outside.”
Suffolk had to rebuild the second-floor deck and replace all of the building’s plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems. Now, the rooms resemble comfortable, if somewhat spartan, dormitory rooms.
It contains 17 double-occupancy rooms and one triple-occupancy room for a total of 37 beds, more than the city initially planned. Half of the rooms,on the ground floor, are fully accessible to people with disabilities. Bed heights are adjustable for people who use wheelchairs. The hotel manager’s apartment is now a common area and laundry room.
Jones said the shelter helps to fill a service gap and provides a city-owned facility to get people out of the elements. About a third of Suffolk residents spend 30% or more of their income on housing. Affordability is a leading cause of housing loss.
The shelter is managed by the Rest Assured Foundation of Virginia, a Chesterfield-based nonprofit. Carson Dean Consulting, which leads the two largest emergency shelters in North Carolina, is helping with training and policy development for Suffolk’s shelter. It’s also partnering with groups such as the Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk, which runs a church-based night shelter program in the city, and others to deliver meals.
After winter, the shelter will expand support services and counseling with groups such as ForKids, the Western Tidewater Free Clinic and the Western Tidewater Community Services Board.
“But right now, we want to get the doors open with the winter shelter,” Jones said. “Get people off the street, get them into a safe, secure environment.”
