History of TBC

History of Thurman Brisben Center

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During the winter months of 1987, eight downtown churches joined together to feed and provide emergency sleeping areas in church buildings for the homeless. A year later, the need had so grown that shelter operations were moved to a vacant school building.

Three years later, the capability of this location to assimilate the growing homeless community had been exceeded, and another move was necessary. In the winter of 1991-1992, the shelter was operated in motels.

A diligent search, conducted to locate a permanent location for 12-month shelter operations, resulted in selection of the location at 510 Essex Street. This shelter facility was renovated with donated professional labor, building materials, and services. A cadre of local builders freely gave thousands of hours of their time, augmented by volunteers from all sources, to provide this shelter.

The shelter was configured to serve 80 people, with separate sleeping areas for men, women, and women with children. A large multi-purpose area used for dining, recreation, and shelter meetings was in the center. A small commercial kitchen, a washer-dryer room, the case management office, an intake processing room and the director's office make up the remainder for the 9,700-square-foot building.

As the Shelter expanded and enhanced its programs, having such a small building quickly became an issue. As the facility was rented, the Board of Directors began a site search for a new permanent facility.

In February of 2005, Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter, the now Thurman Brisben Center, moved into a new state-of-the-art facility at 471 Central Road. This facility has private offices for all staff, a fully equipped laundry room for residents to do their laundry, a computer lab, several meeting rooms and 8 family units for parents and children. Finally, the Center has space for a Certified Day Care unit which is expected to open in the near future.