AHPC up and running

We're set to move into the next step of the redevelopment of the Navy School as the LRA has appointed a group to oversee any development of the property for the Athens Resource Center for the Homeless. This new group, called the Athens Homeless Property Corporation, is charged with overseeing receiving and investing the funds, contracting to build the new property (possibly off North Avenue) and, once the property is finished, serving as the landlord to ARCH.

Courtney Davis, the executive director of the Athens Area Homeless Shelter, answered a few questions about the setup and operations and clarified the two organization's roles.

"ARCH will participate, of course, in designing the property and all that," she said. "ARCH retains all control over the programs provided at the site - and all the responsibility associated with that. ARCH bylaws lay out the way that we work together - what to do if one agency isn't able to provide the services any longer, how we make decisions about shared things (maybe common staff, etc.). In terms of our relationship to AHPC, we are (at the most basic level) their tenant."

The seven board members of AHPC include Karen Baynes, Associate Director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government; Clay Bryant, Attorney; Bob Carson, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.; Chris Evans, Architect with E + E Architecture Inc.; Evan Mills, Athens-Clarke County Human and Economic Development; Tom Scott, Certified Public Accountant and Partner with Trinity Accounting Group; and Davis.