After becoming incorporated in 1988, OMI continued to operate out of the 705 Chatham Street shelter.  In the early 1990's, OMI purchased a home at 507 Third Street to renovate for a women’s shelter.  For the next 20 years, both shelters were operated by churches and the Board of Directors, helping an average of 70 people per year.
 

In May 2018, the OMI Board of Directors expanded the mission’s goals to help more people. OMI opened 24 hours a day, seven days a week, increased bed capacity, and incorporated the “Low Barrier, Housing First” approach.  After going to this new operating philosophy in 2018, OMI helped 249 the first year.

  
In 2019, OMI added full-time and part-time staff, plus volunteers. The board created an operations manual, standard operating procedures, fiscal policies, installed security cameras, and implemented a coordinated entry/intake plan with the help of United Way’s 2-1-1 system. Staff were trained to enter client data in the statewide HMIS (Homeless Management Information System), which is maintained by the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness.  
 

In 2019 we helped another 249 people experiencing Homelessness, get their lives back, one person at a time.  
 

‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:40 NKJV