SALISBURY — Project Light will be moving into the West End Plaza after the members of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a lease agreement between the county and the nonprofit.

The lease agreement is a gift to the organization, as Project Light will only be required to pay one dollar a month in rent. Commissioner Mike Caskey said that the idea to offer Project Light the space came from working closely with the organization on a human trafficking study the county approved back in August. While working with representatives from the organization, Caskey learned that they needed more space for their operations than their current office in Rockwell could provide.

“One of the things that came up going through their stuff, they need more space and how much they spend on overhead for that every month. So, we had a space that’s already open at West End Plaza and we’d like to let them move out there and put their facilities there,” said Caskey.

The organization would place its new office space in the old Bath and Body Works store in the building, Caskey said. Jim Duncan, the executive director of Project Light, said that the store worked for what the organization needed except for the issue of privacy. The storefront is currently completely open, and Duncan asked if the county could help install some form of privacy because the organization deals with a sensitive topic, assisting victims of human trafficking and raising awareness for the issue in the county.

“We’re excited about the possibility of being able to move into Salisbury. We’re having a lot of activity now with folks in Salisbury. Not that we don’t like Rockwell, Rockwell’s a great town and they’re going to allow us to leave our sign on Main Street even when we move, which we’re excited about that with the 10,000 cars that go by there everyday. But this would be a great move forward for Project Light to be able to be in the Salisbury area,” Duncan said.

At the end of the discussion, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the lease agreement between the county and the nonprofit. The commissioners also voted unanimously to allow County Manager Aaron Church to work with Project Light in upfitting the space to the organization’s needs.