Greensboro Nonprofit Unveils Renovated Facility to House 43 Veterans

A $5 million renovation years in the making got its ribbon cut Tuesday when The Servant Center unveiled a rebuilt facility at 1915 Boulevard Street that will eventually shelter up to 43 veterans, filling a gap between hospital discharge and stable housing that has long left some of Greensboro's most vulnerable residents with nowhere to go.

The nonprofit, which has operated its Servant House transitional housing program since 1999, split the new building into three distinct uses. Twenty-one beds continue the Servant House model, a program currently housed at 1417 Glenwood Avenue that serves homeless, disabled men with a preference for veterans. Twenty-two additional beds are designated for medical respite, defined in the organization's rezoning filing as "acute and post-acute medical care for people experiencing homelessness who are too ill or frail to recover from a physical illness or injury on the streets, but who are not ill enough to be in a hospital." The remainder of the roughly 1.5-acre parcel on Boulevard Street will house administrative and direct service staff, including case managers, housing specialists, disability specialists, and certified nursing assistants.

The medical respite component represents the most significant expansion of the organization's scope. Under the program, local hospitals refer homeless patients, including veterans, who need care for untreated conditions but do not require inpatient admission. Cone Health is among the named donors and partners supporting the project, though the terms of any formal referral arrangement have not been publicly detailed.

The $5 million investment, as estimated by organizational officials, drew from county, federal, and private funding streams. The City of Greensboro and Guilford County are explicitly named contributors alongside Cone Health, with additional organizations rounding out the donor list.

The Greensboro Planning and Zoning Commission approved the rezoning of the Boulevard Street parcel from Assisted Living to Social Services Facility and Office Use under case number Z-24-09-005, capping the social service facility at 43 beds. The Servant Center held a public neighborhood meeting on August 29, 2024, as part of that process.

As of the ribbon-cutting on March 17, the facility had not yet begun accepting residents. The Servant Center can be reached at 336-275-8585.