How the city is progressing on unsheltered services

While shelter capacity is increasing in Columbia, the city recognizes there still are barriers for the community's unsheltered to get into a shelter space, says Stephanie Browning, Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services director.

She provided an update Monday to the Columbia City Council on unsheltered outreach. PHHS also addressed concerns voiced online regarding the Ashley Street Center shelter space owned by the city, which currently is closed until the fall/winter season.

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Filling service gaps; renovating Ashley Street Center

Much of the filled service gaps the city conducted focus on the winter season, Browning said. This included a contract with Turning Point at Wilkes Street United Methodist Church to operate as an overnight warming center when temperatures drop to 25 degrees or below. Room at the Inn, which leases the Ashley Street Center from November through April 1 received additional city support to be able to be open on Sunday afternoons through the winter.

Columbia also has started to make concerted efforts to increase partnerships and contracts for unsheltered services, Browning said.

"In 2016, the city through human services funded homeless services to the tune of about $68,200. In 2023, that investment is up to $482,095," she said. "It's taken a while, but it's definitely growing."

Part of the reason the Ashley Street Center currently is closed is so PHHS can look at pricing for renovations. The hope is for it to have continuous use from unsheltered service organizations in the interim while Voluntary Action Center works toward its adjacent Opportunity Campus.

"Based on ongoing discussions with Room at the Inn, Turning Point, and Loaves & Fishes, the cityis reviewing upgrades to the building needed to facilitate its use by one or more of these threeproviders," wrote Ryan Sheehan, PHHS spokesperson.

The parks-esque pavilion adjacent to the Ashley Street Center also is not open for use, including the restrooms, due to a lack of city staff available to monitor and clean

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Budget proposals; service advancement; ongoing concerns

PHHS also is preparing for its 2024 budget proposals to the council, including new items to continue street outreach and case management through AAAAChange, funding so Room at the Inn can operate for the entire year, rather than over the winter season, and more public support for Turning Point so it can increase its operational hours, Browning said.

Nick Foster, Fourth Ward council member and former Voluntary Action Center director, expressed his pleasure at how much the city has progressed regarding aid to the city's unsheltered.

"We've seen more change and more advancement and more progress in this area in the past 12 to 18 months than we've seen in the previous decade," he said, recognizing there still are ongoing concerns and issues.

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These were highlighted by community members speaking to the council at the conclusion of Monday's meeting, including the recent expulsions of unsheltered encampments supported by community groups, including CoMo Mobile Aid Collective.

After an expulsion on April 24, the group wrote online what happened that day was hard.

"No one got arrested. Everyone got out physically unscathed, but not emotionally." the post read. "Not the campers. Not our team. ... Some campers moved yesterday and today and immediately got kicked out of their new place. Everyone is exhausted and depressed and scared."

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The group also posted further messages on May 3 from those it works with regularly.

"...With all these moves with no plan to give us direction to where we should move to, this will be my eighth time to move in the last 2 1/2 years," wrote B. "I'm more capable than some. I've met a lot of interesting people out here, with issues, but they are still human beings and need help.

"Although my plan is to get off the streets and I will do that, but I have cried and had depression — shed a lot of tears for what the other folks out here have lost."

CoMo Mobile Aid Collected has incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and seeks funding from the city to sustain and increase services, the staff report from Monday noted.

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Dollar for dollar value of services

The financial support the city provides for unsheltered and low-income programs was questioned by resident Sarah Johnson at Monday's meeting. She was seeking answers on the effectiveness of dollars spent when compared to the 1980s because of inflation.

"I went back to the original 2016 homelessness study presented to the council," she said. "In 1980, the city's investment in social services was the equivalent of $851,483 in today's dollars, or a rate of $47 per low-income resident. In 2016, the city will invest $893,556, a rate of $21 per low-income resident.

"...It would be interesting to see how that spending has changed from 2016 to today. Are we doing better, or is it because there are higher numbers of low-income people, as we are still at 20%?"

She also voiced concerns that the city now is in process to seek renovations for the Ashley Street Center, rather than starting that process at time of purchase in October, so that when the center closed for the season in April, work could start at that time.

The city potentially could seek a $500,000 American Rescue Plan Act allocation for the renovations, the Tribune previously reported. Upgrades are not critical to Room at the Inn operations. PHHS still is looking for renovation pricing in the meantime, the staff report noted. The kitchen needs to be brought up to code for full commercial use. Shower, laundry and additional bathrooms also are needed. The upgrades would allow for Room at the Inn, Loaves and Fishes and Turning Point to transition to the Ashley Street Center.

The staff report Monday noted Voluntary Action Center is seeking an ARPA allocation for the opportunity campus and also has secured $6 million in state funding.

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Health department works toward filling unsheltered service gaps