Fresh Start Alamance, Inc. is providing people experiencing homelessness in Alamance County a sense of stability.

Founder and CEO Janet Triola was helping people experiencing homelessness before she started a nonprofit by providing coffee and snacks three days a week in downtown Burlington.

However, after meeting with Burlington police officers to better understand the needs of people without stable housing, she partnered with her church, New Life at Hocutt, to provide a place where people can shower, wash clothes, receive food and clothes, and have access to computers.

“They do job searching. A lot of what I found out is that there’s a lot more barriers to getting housing than just a job, so I help them apply for government funds, birth certificates, their stimulus checks,” Triola said.

The church gave the nonprofit the space free of charge and provided the utilities.

It’s a place Jacob Greene doesn’t take for granted.

“I wish there was more of them. It’s better than the shelter in a lot of cases for people with the need to be free,” he said.

Triola sees what’s offered now as just a starting point.

“Ideally what we want to do is to build quality affordable housing and have volunteer hours and all these resources right on site,” she said.

Fresh Start Alamance, Inc. has helped close to 150 people since opening its doors in 2019.