The Fayetteville City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, December 9, 2024, at 6:30 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting included recognitions, public forum, consent agenda approval, reports from boards and commissions, a public hearing on Unified Development Ordinance text amendments, and approval of the Can Do Grant Program. All votes were unanimous except one (9-1).
Eight speakers addressed the council during the 30-minute public forum.
Again, so welcome uh to the December 9th, 2024 meeting. Uh, at this time, with just like with every meeting, we always start with the invocation. We ask that Minister Renee Elder, Covenant Love Church, if she would come to the front, ask all would stand. Renee. I said, Renee, that's 6 30 p.m. You beat me there. So I'll catch you tonight. But uh, if you will, please lead us in prayer. Good people. Let us all bow our heads with humble hearts and Jesus on our minds. Oh heavenly Father, as we usher in your spirit into this place, be with us, usher us into the new year with your peace, your grace, and your mercy. We ask Father God for your blessings, your continued blessings. Breathe on us, Lord. Fill us with love, fill us with peace, and fill us with your joy. It is in Jesus' name that I come before you humbly, graciously, and with a thankful heart. In Jesus' mighty name, I ask these blessings. Amen. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic of which it stands one nation. Under God, individual with liberty and justice for us all. Can't get away that easy. So, Renee, we thank you for the prayer. Tell us a little bit. Most of us know you, many people know you. Uh, talking to the to the mic face this way, for us, Renee. They'll see you on the monitor. There you go. Uh, but tell us a little bit about yourself and and the good work you do for veterans. As you know, my name is Renee Elder. I am a native of New York. I came here in 1990 six through the military. I retired, me and my husband. And when I became homeless, there was no program here in Fayetteville that could help me. So I decided to create my own organization called Veterans Empower and Veterans. It helps. From training, and I'm a little nervous, so just forgive me, and again, I apologize. So um, my organization is a great organization. Many people here, um, the council members, um, have known me for years, and they know that my program has gotten countless amount of veterans off the street into homes, their own homes. Currently, we have um seven homes, and all of them stay occupied. Our program provides a hand up, not a handout. When they move into the housing, they're fully furnished. Um, we get furniture through different organizations. Um, of course, Renee goes and she plead and she began, she get what she wants. So they know me so well now. When they see me coming, they just be like, open up the warehouse, let her go back in and pick what she wants for her veterans. So we have a food pantry. Um we partnership with publics, and they give us food on a weekly basis, and we make food boxes. To this date, my organization has given out over 9,000 food boxes from 2000, nope, from 19, 2008 to the current time. Not only that, but jobs. We've worked with different managers and HRs and Home Depot Lowe's, um, food lions, and just respective different food um restaurants, McDonald's, um, Taco Bells, and we've gotten veterans, homeless veterans off the street and gotten them employment, and we also employ them. We we've started um lawn care services, we have house cleaning services, and I have a venue that I hire the homeless veterans, and we we pay them as much as we can.