Raleigh Rescue Mission’s expansion offers more help for homeless women, children in NC

A lot of big changes are underway at the Raleigh Rescue Mission, which this month opened a new $41 million campus in Knightdale for women and children experiencing homelessness.

The new campus, named The Garden, allows the faith-based nonprofit to increase its capacity to serve as many as 350 women and children daily, which is 290 more than the 60 it served at its downtown Raleigh facility. 

“This is about so much more than a new campus,” John Luckett, the Rescue Mission’s president and CEO said in a statement following last week’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The Garden gives us the opportunity to welcome more women and children into a safe, dignified environment where they can heal, find hope, and take meaningful steps toward a different future.” 

The Rescue Mission’s capacity to serve men at its downtown facility also increases as a result of The Garden coming online.  The nonprofit can now serve as many as 120 men, compared to  only 40 men before the new facility opened.  

In an interview with NC Newsline, Luckett stressed that The Garden is not an emergency shelter for women and children looking for a place to spend a night. In those cases, families are referred to traditional shelters, he said. The Garden is focused on longer-term solutions.

“I tell people that if there was such a thing as a boarding school for people experiencing homelessness, we would be it,” Luckett said. “We do an assessment and people move in and they’re individuals who want to be a part of our New Life program that’s focused on getting a job, getting a car and getting an apartment.”

The New Life Plan to which Luckett referred is a structured, six-phase program that helps participants build the skills and stability needed for long-term  independence. 

The women and children entering the program will move into one of the campus’ 101 private residential rooms. The campus also features an on-site daycare and will offer life skills and job readiness programs. Women looking to return to the workforce will be prioritized. 

“We are a back-to-work program, and that’s very important,” Luckett said. “We’re trying to get people that want to go back to work and need all the support systems in order to make that happen.” 

Luckett estimates it will take about a year for The Garden to reach capacity. It usually takes a woman with children six to nine months to complete the program. Single women can complete it in four to six months, he said.

The idea for The Garden came after the organization identified a critical shortage of transitional housing for women and children looking to escape homelessness, Luckett said.

Study: Hurricane Helene caused spike in homelessness in North Carolina

Wake County’s 2026 Point-in-Time Count (PIT) numbers show more than 1,000 people were living on the street or in emergency shelters in Wake County on a single night in January. The count identified 1,050 people experiencing homelessness in Wake County, including 307 people living unsheltered and 743 staying in shelters or transitional housing programs. By comparison, 1,127 people were counted during the 2025 Point-in-Time Count.

The PIT is an annual effort required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Garden is located within a new Lennar single-family home community on land donated to the Rescue Mission about 25 years ago. Luckett said a donor gave the mission about 60 acres. It sold Lennar 45 acres for its housing development and retained ownership of 15 acres for The Garden.

Lennar helped with “water, sewer, electrical, bringing that to the whole area,” Luckett said. 

“When we started looking for a place, we kept coming up with the land that we already owned,” Luckett said. “We ended up within proximity of the downtown location and in a good town that was very welcoming of us having this residential model of getting women and children back on their feet.” 

Luckett said The Garden is loosely based on the Purpose Built Communities model, which focuses on mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education, community wellbeing and economic vitality.

Knightdale Mayor Jessica Day said in a statement that The Garden will be a game-changer for women and children experiencing homelessness.

“The Garden is not only a resource for women and children facing situational homelessness,” said. “I believe it will be a haven of hope for them, and a chance to re-envision the lives they want for themselves.”