By ANA RISANO
Staff Writer
A nonprofit that offers shelter for young men and women while they stabilize their lives is looking to expand its operation in Moore County.
TambraPlace offers long-term housing and support to provide a home for young adults who may be aging out of foster care or who would otherwise be without a permanent residence. It’s the only program of its kind in the area..
The nonprofit began operating in 2018. It established a home for young women between 18 and 24 years old in 2021, occupying a brick bungalow donated by the Community Presbyterian Church in Pinehurst.
In 2023, the community mobilized to build a home for young men, with land, labor and supplies acquired through donations. Called the Stone House, it sits on a roughly 2.5 acre property in West End and currently houses four men. The home was named after TambraPlace co-founder Rev. Rod Stone.
Now, TambraPlace is looking to expand and build a new home for young women next door. The plan is to construct a five-bedroom, three-bathroom home with communal living spaces to replace the bungalow, which will transition into other uses.
Tambra Chamberlain, the nonprofit’s namesake and a Moore County Schools social worker, said the goal of these homes is to provide support for youth who have experienced trauma, and invest in them through educational and therapeutic support.
“Coming into this we knew that something had to be long-term,” Chamberlain said. “We could not do something short-term because it would not provide the stability that the youth need and the time for them to heal, because it takes years and years and years.”
Chamberlain noted that without support, the younger a child enters homelessness, the more likely it is to happen again. Transitional living programs, like TambraPlace, are backed by research that long-term homes provide a foundation for the children to get back on their feet.
Chris Ganis, who has 40 years of experience as a psychologist, explained the program’s role in young adults’ lives. She sits on the nonprofit board and is a member of the operations team.
“I always think of it as scaffolding from 18 to adulthood,” Ganis said. “It’s helping build that bridge to the other side when they can be self-sufficient. Kids drop into homelessness from all kinds of directions, so we never know what kind of deficits and needs and strengths they will have.”
Chamberlain said they are looking into an opportunity for financing through the nonprofit NC Shared Housing Development, which builds homes for zero percent interest.
Chamberlain said with this deal, if they receive the financing, TambraPlace would be responsible for a $75,000 down payment. Construction could begin as early as this summer, with a tentative opening in early 2026.
Between the homes sits the Jim Schneider Therapeutic Recreational Area, featuring a basketball hoop, fire pit and garden. It was named in honor of TambraPlace co-founder Jim Schneider. There are also about a dozen trees planted to provide shade in the coming years.
Addressing A Need
According to the 2024 Point in Time count, which takes place each January to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in an area, there were 59 in Moore County. The 2025 count data has not been released yet. This count, however, usually represents about half of the total homeless population in an area. It also only counts unsheltered individuals. Some live in hotels or are “doubled up,” staying with family and friends. Data from Moore County Schools identified 112 students as the latter for 2024.
There are no long-term facilities to help those experiencing homelessness in Moore County, outside of TambraPlace’s program for young adults.
“What about the kid who is a perfectly fine kid just going through life and loses that safety net?” Ganis asked.
Two local shelters, run by Family Promise of Moore County and Friend to Friend, provide temporary housing but for people in specific situations. Family Promise has a shelter for families, and Friend to Friend shelters survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.
Chamberlain said more programs exist in urban areas, but the youth here are not used to that environment and want to stay local.
Sherri Mangum, a social worker with Children’s Home Society of NC and a member of the TambraPlace operations team, said at least 50 percent of children nationwide who age out of foster care end up homeless or in prison within the first year.
She emphasized the importance of finding a sense of stability for youth as they enter adulthood. That can mean not returning to their parents’ home.
“TambraPlace holds a special place in my heart. I’ve worked with a lot of your folks who aged out of foster care,” Mangum said. “And they returned home, and it was a disaster.”
One of the young men, 18, who lives at Stone House moved in about eight months ago with help of his high school theater teacher. He had been in the foster system and left his last home because of a “clash of ideals” with his foster parents. He said he enjoys the independent-living environment.
“I think it’s nice because it’s helped us get back on our feet,” he said. “It’s nice having a safe space to come back to.”
After graduating high school, he plans to study mortuary sciences.
Chamberlain said youth do need to qualify for the transitional housing program, and are interviewed to see if they would be a good fit for communal living and responsive to rules.
“Being in the school system, I’ve seen a lot of what these kids have seen,” Chamberlain said. “We do interview each youth to make sure they are appropriate for our program because it is highly reliant on their resiliency skills, but then also we are here to help.”
Mangum helps conduct the initial interviews. If not a good fit, she often refers the young adults to other organizations that could better support their needs, noting she works for a statewide agency.
Ganis and Chamberlain emphasized that the people they help are not “troubled youth.”
“These are kids who often excel and hide their homelessness because of a shame factor,” Ganis said.
Chamberlain shared many wins, from the young people gaining associate degrees and CTE certifications and moving out with full-time jobs and a way to sustain themselves. One young woman is a paramedic. Another plans to work in the field of cyber security, securing an internship after she graduates.
She noted that the youth who have moved on are still a part of the TambraPlace family. They remain in the group chats and stay caught up with each other’s lives.
“Two to three years investment makes a life long change for each of these youth,” Chamberlain said.
To learn more about TambraPlace or join its board of directors, visit www.tambraplace.org/ or email ywthmoore@gmail.com.
Contact Ana Risano at (910) 575-6396 or ana@thepilot.com.
