GREENSBORO, N.C. — It's a sight hard to forget. When an EF-2 tornado slammed into Greensboro back in 2018, it left a destructive path of damage.
Three Guilford County schools were hit hard, heavily damaged and students never returned.
The school district sold off two of the sites, Erwin Montessori and Hampton Elementary, and demolished Peeler Elementary.
Now new life could be coming to the former Erwin Montessori school site.
Guilford County purchased the school and is getting ready to renovate it, something expected to happen in the next year.
As work gets ready to begin, county leaders are working on plans for the space.
Skip Alston, chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, said the goal is to help people in need of a temporary place to stay.
It's mainly going to be a place for mothers and children when they get put out of a home at 2 a.m., they have a domestic problem, they don't have a place to go, they will have a safe place to be able to go there and take their children," said Alston.
"It might take two or three days to find another apartment, or reconcile with a family member or to try to find some other kind of housing, but this is just a temporary situation, for emergency housing for women with small children," said Alston.
While some who use the space may be experiencing homelessness, the former school will not primarily function as a homeless shelter.
The site will also be a place where people can go and get help if they are dealing with behavioral health problems.
"They'll go there, get treatment, get counseling and be able to stay in a program that will help them get back on their feet," said Alston.
Again the goal will be to help someone transition to the next phase of their life, especially working on job skills.
"That's what this center is going to be focused on. Job training, working with them on how do you prepare for an interview, how do you try to get back into a normal course of living, how do you keep your doctors appointments, things of that nature," said Alston.
Right now the county is still working on the concept for the former school and they do not have an opening date set for the site.
Guilford County leaders are looking at another site that will be more focused on helping serve the homeless population.
The county is hopeful to get control of a space at an undisclosed location, that would hold 70 beds and open later this fall.
Even with this site opening, Alston said it will be more than just a place to sleep.
"We're trying to address the homeless situation from a holistic standpoint...we can't put a person with a mental problem back into a house. You can't put a drug addict back into a house or a room or a hotel room and then just say we helped that person. We have to help them from a holistic standpoint." said Alston.