NORTHWEST TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — The Lori Paige Center in northwest Tallahassee now has 90 days to find a new home.

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Tallahassee’s Lori Paige Center gets 90 days to find new home after eviction dispute with building owner

After the center was initially given just eight days to leave, I found it now has more time — but the girls who depend on it still don’t know where they’ll go next.

It’s been two and a half weeks since Stephanie Tolbert, CEO of Sisters Mentoring Sisters, learned she had eight days to leave the Lori Paige Center. Now, the gate is locked.

“I was floored. It was very surprising. It caught me off guard,” Tolbert said.

Tolbert turned to attorney Curt Bender for help. When I first reported on the lease and MOU dispute between Sisters Mentoring Sisters and building owner Bethel AME on October 2nd, Bender hoped both sides could reach an agreement. Now, he says his client wants to recover the money it invested in the building.

“All we seek and what we asked for is at least reimburse us the funds that we invested into the building so we could invest it elsewhere as well. A fair and equitable remedy,” Bender said.

In an October 20th letter, attorney E. Dylan Rivers gave Sisters Mentoring Sisters 90 days’ notice that its agreement with the property owner will end. The letter cites a provision in their memorandum of understanding, or MOU, allowing either side to end the agreement with 90 days’ written notice.

But the original plan called for a three-year lease through April 2028, at just $10 a year.

“I don’t know what’s next. I have no idea what’s next for them, but definitely what’s next for my organization. These kids depend on me, this community,” Tolbert said.

The center provides mentoring and support to girls ages 9 to 18. It’s named after Lori Paige, who disappeared in 2023. Her remains were found nearly two years later.

I spoke by phone with 15-year-old Hai’lei Johnson. She’s attended the center since it opened and says losing that space would mean losing more than a building.

“Even when I’m not physically there, whenever something in my life happens, and I get start overwhelming, Sisters is one of the 1st places I think about. I know I can always have somebody when I’m going through like any a place to go, so it’s kind of hard like that the building might be taken away because it’s not really a building. It’s like more of a safe place, like girls can, girls can make memories, build relationships, and we’ve gotten through things all together,” Johnson said.

Tolbert says she’s not giving up on saving the center.

I reached out to the property owner’s attorney to ask why the agreement is ending and whether the organization must leave. I have not received a response.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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