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GREENSBORO — Less than $500 is in the bank for a High Point nonprofit working to help homeless young adults.

If donations don’t come in, the group, I Am Now, might close.

“We didn’t receive our normal funding from private donations, and that has really put us in an awkward situation,” said Travis Burrell, director and co-founder of I Am Now.

To stay in operation longer than month’s end, Burrell said his group would need about $12,000.

“It’s not just a building, it’s a young person who is given an opportunity to start a new life and build a new chance with themselves,” Burrell said.

The group operates a home that gives eight adults, mostly men ages 18 to 23, an address and a place to establish themselves in a yearlong program. The group also offers mentor services and skills training to help young adults apply for jobs and seek education.

In all, I Am Now helps about two dozen men and women through its programs, Burrell said.

“The young men there, they are making progress,” said Sheletha Stewart, head of a foster care aging-out program for the Guilford County Department of Social Services.

She refers some foster children to I Am Now when they turn 18 and need a place to go.

I Am Now works, she said, “if you have young men who can be self-motivated and just need a little help.”

The program is similar to what Joseph’s House in Greensboro does. Stewart said similar programs aren’t widely available across the state.

“(Winston-Salem) may call us, Durham may call us,” she said. “They’re calling for facilities, they don’t have them in their area.”

Money is tight at Joseph’s House but all the bills are being paid, according to Director Nancy McLean.

“We don’t have a big reserve in the bank,” McLean said, “and if you put it in household terms, Joseph’s House is living payday-to-payday.”

Paydays for I Am Now appear close to over, though.

Guilford County gave I Am Now $20,000 in its 2009-10 budget, but the money only comes as a reimbursement. Because the group has little cash on hand, the county money is inaccessible now, Burrell said.

More donations would allow the group to access the county money.

According to IRS documents, I Am Now had an annual budget of about $100,000 in 2007-08, the most recently available information.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com