New Castle County Hope Center

The New Castle County Hope Center was established in 2020 to provide emergency non-congregate shelter to unhoused individuals during the heigh of the COVID-19 pandemic. The building is a full-service renovated hotel that has provided emergency shelter for over 3,000 people since that time. The Hope Center’s Vision is to End Homelessness in Delaware with our Community Partners. Our model has evolved to provide onsite resources to help people experiencing homelessness break the barriers. The Hope Center partners with ChristianaCare Hospital which has a full-service medical office onsite. The Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Bridge Clinic has a mental health and substance abuse referral/counseling agency which operates onsite services 7-days per week. We also have full-time Housing Stabilization Case Managers who work closely with unhoused households on securing housing. The Hope Center is a 24-hour operation, and includes additional services such as security, transportation, care for pets and a comprehensive employment and training program. At any given night, there are approximately 300 people living at the Hope Center, half of which are children under the age of 18. We also are the largest emergency shelter in Delaware, and the only shelter that can accommodate large families, single fathers and multi-generational households. Our success is monitored by the number of households exiting to Permanent Housing. To date, 305 households have moved to permanent housing.