Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1534028
April/May 2025 | maconmagazine.com 63 complete the program, with an emergency overnight shelter offering 50 beds for those unhoused in the gymnasium. "It's mainly for cold weather," she said, noting Brookdale hopes to transition people into accessible and affordable housing. "It's pretty difficult," Bender said. "We have a program with the Macon Housing Authority where we can help with the process of a Section 8 voucher." The availability of affordable housing is "slim pickings," she said, noting that Section 8 vouchers are restrictive with their qualifications. "We hope ABOVE Onlookers watch as demolition begins on a blighted structure in Pleasant Hill. The site is soon be 64 units of affordable housing. Photo courtesy of Macon-Bibb County. RIGHT A bulletin board advertises opportunities at Brookdale Resource Center. Photo by Matt Odom. Not long ago, In-Fill also renovated 270 units in Tindall Heights. The company was also responsible for the Hunt School Village on Shurling Drive, a renovation project of the former Hunt Elementary School. Through In-Fill, Mathews is working on building more than 60 new homes on what was once the site of a blighted charter school in Pleasant Hill. The demolition of the school took place in March. S U R V I V E T O T H R I V E Alison Bender has served as executive director of the Brookdale Resource Center since January 2021, two weeks after its inception. "It was only supposed to be open for three or four months," Bender said, but that changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, causing chaos throughout the country that increased homelessness nationwide. "In order for us to qualify as an emergency shelter, our services are not supposed to extend for more than 90 days," Bender said. Their 90-day program is meant to offer a lifeline out of homelessness, with a case worker helping residents find stability. "If people are moving in the right direction, we give them an opportunity." There is room for 120 people, including some rooms exclusively for families at Brookdale's longer-term residential side for those attempting to