Local businessman Jerre O’Neal has been involved with homeless shelters since 1987, when the Douglasville Shelter for Women was founded through First Presbyterian Church.

O’Neal said he went down to meet the organizing group, was elected president when he got there and has been there since.

His newest shelter — the Men’s Assessment Center — was conceived under the same umbrella as the women’s shelter and is the culmination of O’Neal’s quest to bring temporary assistance to men in need of help.

The men’s shelter is now open and this week took in its first two occupants. And now O’Neal is president of both shelters.

“We needed a means to take care of single men (who were down on their luck),” O’Neal said.

First United Methodist Church of Douglasville contributed money it made from its Breakfast with Santa program for six years, a project that usually raised $6,000 to $7,000 each year, O’Neal said. That money was put in a certificate of deposit and was used to finance the center, which is located at the end of the building on Bankhead Highway that houses Crossroads for Life Ministries (CFLM).

O’Neal said it was just an open building when they got it, and CFLM Pastor Edwin Ford was good enough to let them use it.

“Michael Budd (then-director of United Way) knew of my desire to have a men’s shelter here, and when Brother Ford came along, he had this program called The Door. Michael said since we were both working on the same thing, why didn’t we do it together?” O’Neal said.

O’Neal was able to get the architect Ford had initially contacted to do the drawings and the Jackleg Carpenters ministry — a group of men who go out in the county and perform repairs and other projects for people who can’t afford them — came in and did all the labor. O’Neal said they have been working on this project for the last two years.

“God has provided for us,” O’Neal said. “Most of the material has been donated, and we are thankful to those people who have contributed.”

The shelter, which has at least eight bunk beds, a large shower with lockers and a kitchen and dining area, is open to any homeless man. O’Neal said the goal is to try to treat any problems a man might have through computerized assessment tests given when he comes in.

A network of agencies will provide clothing and assist with other necessities, he said.

“Some might need only a day or two here, and we will have temporary shelter for them,” O’Neal said. “We want to have any man who wants to help himself, but this is not (a program) for freeloaders.”

The center’s director is Robert McIntyre, a man who knows when to be compassionate and when to be stern, O’Neal said.

McIntyre also knows about homelessness and the struggles men face that can lead to it.

McIntyre comes to the center from Ford’s program, where he spent 17 months. Before then, he was homeless for three years.

After years of being successful as an executive in the business world and after receiving a master’s degree in business marketing, a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering and associate degrees in criminology and culinary arts, McIntyre said his life went into a downward spiral.

By the time he reached out for help, McIntyre had spent 32 years in alcoholism and 25 years as a cocaine addict, he said. He has been clean for over four years and said he hasn’t “slipped, dipped or tripped.”

“What better person is there to run a place like this than someone who’s been through it?” McIntyre asked. “Everything before me, I’ve put in God’s hand.”

McIntyre said he was a police officer in Michigan for six years where he was shot and stabbed. He almost drowned as a child, had a heart attack in 1999 and has attempted suicide. But he endured.

“God has such a greater calling for me,” he said. “If it wasn’t for His grace and mercy, I would not be here.”

While McIntyre is excited to get started, he is dismayed at the thought that the shelter will become full and some will have to be put on a waiting list or turned away.

“Our one purpose is restoring lives, getting men’s lives back on track,” McIntyre said. “If you can restore a man’s life, you can bring about restoration in bringing families together. There is nothing greater.”