New Day Intake Center Receives $1 Million Grant

After operating out of a former motel for six years, New Day Intake Center celebrated a milestone when it broke ground on its permanent home on Old Cleveland Road in September 2025.

The new campus will include housing, amenities, and administrative offices in a serene space, all part of a model that addresses chronic homelessness with dignity, relationship, and care. And now, thanks to a $1,000,000 grant from the Community Foundation, New Day has reason to celebrate all over again.

The significant grant means that New Day will be able to serve even more guests, through the construction of a women’s residential section that will include 16 units for 32 women.

“None of us want people to experience homelessness,” says Sheila McCarthy, Executive Director at New Day. “The solution is a high-access facility that doesn’t make things overly challenging for people who already come with a lot of challenges.”

New Day’s housing-first model is proven and working. By providing guests first with a roof over their heads, New Day provides a sense of stability that, for many, is a prerequisite to recovery. From there, New Day connects guests with the social services that help them get back on their feet, thanks to partners at Oaklawn, Our Lady of the Road, and others.

The housing-first model doesn’t just provide a path toward stability for New Day’s guests; it also reduces strain on public resources and improves community health and safety. When fewer people experience chronic homelessness, everyone wins.

Originally launched as Motels4Now, the program has grown from an emergency stopgap to something more enduring and something that’s making an impact in the lives of hundreds of individuals every year. In the past six years, New Day has hosted more than 900 guests, and 650 of those individuals are no longer homeless.

“New Day’s housing-first model represents the kind of coordinated, evidence-based investment that helps individuals regain stability while strengthening the broader community,” said Aaron Perri, Vice President of Community Impact at the Community Foundation.

When construction is complete, the New Day Intake Center will offer 126 beds, a medical clinic, mental health and addiction recovery services, a full-service kitchen and dining hall, indoor and outdoor communal spaces, and an art workshop. The women’s residences will include 16 rooms with 32 beds, private showers, and separate sinks. It’s a space designed for shelter, safety, and stability – the things that people often need to have in place before they can move forward.

New Day Intake Center’s model is changing hundreds of lives, but the need for its services remains immense. In some cases, new guests can spend up to a year on a waiting list before New Day can accommodate them. An extra million dollars for an extra 32 beds will go a long way toward addressing that.

McCarthy is looking forward to moving into the new campus by the end of 2026 and expects the women’s residences to be in use by 2027.