City staff pick new emergency homeless shelters for funding, others ask to be reconsidered
Springfield has been in need of more shelter beds for the unhoused population for years. Now, with pandemic relief funding at the ready, city staff have selected organizations to receive funds to bring more resources to those experiencing homelessness. Monday night, those not selected made the case that investment in their future is also a worthy endeavor.
The city received a variety of COVID-19 relief funds focused on addressing homelessness. The most recent, a total of almost $1.9 million from the U.S. Treasury Department, Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) American Rescue Plan Act funding, was the third round of funding the city slated for housing needs. This money can be used to develop, rehabilitate, acquire or renovate one or more emergency shelters.
The initial funding was allocated for a non-congregate shelter because of the requirements set by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Non-congregate shelter means that each individual or family has their own private room and private restroom. Then, funding went to supportive services for homelessness prevention and diversion. These services include a variety of things, from mental health services to employment assistance and credit repair. All of these resources combined can help people regain stability. The most recent $1.9 million in funding was made available for congregate emergency shelters, to give more organizations the ability to apply.
Who was selected?
The application process drew proposals from three organizations — The Salvation Army, Women’s Medical Respite and The Council of Churches of the Ozarks. Each proposal was rated based on the organization's experience operating shelters, the agency's capacity, addition of shelter beds, experience with federal funding and the Ozarks Alliance to End Homelessness, location, project readiness, cost effectiveness, reliable operational funds and that the money awarded would complete the project.
At Monday night's Springfield City Council meeting, city staff presented their recommendations. These included awarding $1,833,770 to The Salvation Army, which operates Harbor House; and almost $28,000 to Women's Medical Respite.
Bob Jones, the city's grant administrator, said The Salvation Army's plans include almost doubling the number of beds it has available, from 56 to 100. The current Harbor House will move into a new building with the additional beds added there.
Women's Medical Respite on the other hand is in the process of moving into a new home that will expand its five available beds to eight. The organization helps unhoused women who are acutely ill. According to city documents, the recommendations include awarding the organization 19% of its requested amount because a large portion set for debt payments did not qualify for the funding.
Abbie Cool, executive director of Women's Medical Respite, shared that in 2023 the organization had to turn away more than 80 women because they lacked the space and were limited in the time women could spend there.
A plea to reconsider support
Jaimie Trussell, executive director of The Council of Churches of the Ozarks, addressed council to share information that goes beyond the rating scale used to determine best applicants. The organization runs Safe to Sleep, which Trussell said is the only low-barrier women's shelter in the city.
Currently, she told the council the shelter operates out of a temporary facility in a church gymnasium lent out for shelter purposes. A permanent building is needed.
The main concerns for staff who evaluated the application centered on the project not adding more shelter beds, as well the lack of an already acquired property. Trussell said the shelter has the capacity to house 50 women, with an average of 30 women sleeping there each night. While they are not adding beds, she wanted council and city staff to consider the impact losing those 50 beds could have.
"I think we need more shelter space, but I will tell you there is no number of shelter beds that we can construct in the city of Springfield that would solve our unsheltered problems," Trussell said. "The problem is much bigger than that."
She said the organization has been in real estate negotiations for six months and were not able to include a site acquisition in the application.
Additionally, Trussell shared that The Council of Churches of the Ozarks has been awarded $1.9 million from the Missouri Department of Economic Development for their proposal, which requires a local match that the requested funding from the city would have contributed to. If the city decides not to award them any money, it would be up to the organization to raise the local match portion. Trussell could not guarantee that the combination of the funds would complete the project but did note that they would be open and operational.
More: Springfield looks to add more shelter beds. What can the money accomplish?
The federal funding allocated to the city must spent by Dec. 31, 2026, which is the reason the ability to make swift headway on the projects was included in the evaluation process.
The council agreed to send the Safe to Sleep proposal to the ARPA Committee for consideration of any funds that could be put toward the project. The recommendation to award the existing relief funds to The Salvation Army and Women's Medical Respite is set for a council vote Jan. 22, though council implied a vote could be postponed if the Safe to Sleep proposal has not been considered before that.
Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Contact her with tips at mmieze@news-leader.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield homeless shelters selected for expansion
