Meg’s Place founder pitches county support as shelter alternative to children sleeping in DSS office

Amber Vess, executive founder and director of the Live Like Meagan Foundation, told the commissioners on July 21 that Meg’s Place provides a short-term home and resource center for children who otherwise sleep at Department of Social Services offices while a foster placement is located. “Meg’s Place gives this home idea for children, that they have a bed to sleep in,” Vess said, describing services that include stocked kitchen space, clothes, cots and items foster parents need on short notice.Vess said Meg’s Place began after she rescued two children sleeping on a mat at a DSS office and described the program’s additional supports: a kinship fund for relatives who take custody, reunification assistance (cribs, appliances) and foster-parent support groups that include childcare and two-hours of training toward relicensing. She said the organization partners with churches and writes grants to fund operations.Vess cited figures she received from Chaslyn Thomas, Burke County DSS program supervisor, saying the county logged 160 instances of children sleeping at DSS between June 2024 and June 2025, and 109 instances from January through the present. “That goes to show that a Meg’s Place would be very beneficial in this area,” she said. The board thanked Vess for the presentation and county staff said they are coordinating outreach to faith leaders and foster-parent recruitment events. No vote or appropriation was requested at the meeting.