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Volunteer turnout far exceeds expectations

By Fred Clasen-Kelly frkelly@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Saturday, Jan. 03, 2009 Tom Duncan took the day off work, but faced a menacing job: Clean and paint a vacant apartment infested with cockroaches and covered in dust. Duncan was among roughly 200 volunteers Friday helping convert an idle 12-story uptown building into a temporary homeless shelter. “We will do what we can,” he said after pointing to food the former tenant left in the refrigerator. Volunteers spent hours repairing, painting and cleaning to prepare the Hall House for homeless women and their children. They will continue working from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. Social agencies are trying to reduce a shortage of homeless shelter beds in Charlotte. More than 5,000 people in Charlotte-Mecklenburg are homeless on a given night, but there are less than 2,000 shelter beds. Officials were overwhelmed Friday by …