Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 9, 1990                   TAG: 9007090245
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TAP LAUNCHES FUND DRIVE, SEEKS TO RAISE $300,000

TAP officials said today that the fund drive will run until Aug. 15, then take a break during the United Way of Roanoke Valley's campaign. It will resumed after United Way finishes its drive early next year.

The timetable is part of a one-year agreement between the two agencies. United Way will give TAP a $100,000 grant as a possible step toward TAP joining United Way permanently.

After the initial start-up, "we'll go into hibernation for a while" to stay out of the way of United Way's campaign, TAP President Cabell Brand said.

TAP officials say they must raise at least $160,000 before then to have enough matching funds to draw the annual federal grant for its transitional shelter for the homeless. The federal deadline for the matching money is September.

The Transitional Living Center, near Shaffers Crossing in Northwest Roanoke, has served about 500 homeless people since it opened in September 1988. About 200 have moved into "stable lifestyles" with their own housing, TAP officials said.

During its first fund-raising drive, TAP exceeded its $350,000 goal by raising more than $400,000.

TAP officials attributed part of the success to an outpouring of support for the agency after a fire destroyed its Northwest Roanoke headquarters Dec. 23.

The agency has yet to make a decision about the location of its new home, and plans for a capital fund-drive are still up in the air.

Brand said a new building will probably cost at least $3 million. TAP has about $900,000 in insurance money to go toward the cost of the headquarters.