Nonprofit founder wins lottery, pledges prize to help Charlotte homeless

CHARLOTTE — Barry Shipp runs a nonprofit in Charlotte that aims to build transitional housing communities for people without housing.

His nonprofit just got an investment from Lady Luck.

Shipp ended up buying a $5 scratch-off ticket from a convenience store on East W.T. Harris Boulevard, and he won a $200,000 top prize, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Shipp runs a nonprofit called Pivot Point.

Pivot Point’s website says the organization builds tiny home-style dwellings that are meant to be part of a village. The goal is to provide transitional housing for people who are unhoused.

“I can really put this win to good use,” Shipp said to lottery officials.

The lottery says after tax withholdings, Shipp netted $143,001.

On Wednesday, Shipp told Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz that it didn’t take him long to decide how he’d spend it. Most of the money will go toward building four more of the solar-powered shelters.

“This is the village of hope,” Shipp said. “It’s a place that’s safe and out of the elements ... has a bed, a nice bed, with storage up under it.”

It’s a personal mission for Shipp. The U.S. Navy veteran was homeless for two years.

“I was in the Navy for 11 and a half years; I got out and couldn’t find a job in [Washington] D.C.,” Shipp said. “For two years, I slept in a car.”

Shipp said he got a helping hand that got him back on his feet, and he never looked back.

“Now I have an opportunity to give back,” he told Sáenz.

“Sometimes you’re blessed to be a blessing, and I didn’t want to forget that.”

If you’d like to donate to Pivot Point, you can do so at this link.

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