Springfield City Council considers removing restrictions from non-congregate shelter funds

A bill brought before Springfield City Council on Monday would allow up to $1.9 million of Springfield's Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds (SLRF) to be used for developing homeless shelters without non-congregate restrictions.

The federal pandemic recovery law allocated $40 million to Springfield, which the city mostly allocated in 2022. The city set aside $7 million meant to address homelessness, with projects to be recommended by the City Council ARPA Review Committee.

The committee recommended and council adopted a $2.78 million allocation to be paired with the City's $2.2 million HOME-American Rescue Plan grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The HOME-ARP grant restricts the use of those funds for a non-congregate shelter. The proposed ordinance would remove the non-congregate restriction from the SLRF funds.

Non-congregate shelters allow for individuals and families to stay in their own living quarters as opposed to all together in a large open space like congregate shelters.

After The Kitchen, Inc., proposed a $5.5 million non-congregate shelter to the city, it received a $2.5 million award for the same project from Missouri's Department of Economic Development.

That DED award freed up $1,927,610 of the SLRF funds, which the city staff believes can be applied to congregate and non-congregate shelters since SLRF funds do not carry the same non-congregate restrictions as the HOME-ARP grant.

"We know we have an increased number of folks that are experiencing unsheltered homelessness, and we don't have enough shelter unit spaces to provide that service to everyone who is experiencing unsheltered homelessness and is really trying, you know, to get into a shelter program. I think that was sort of the impetus for broadening" the funding to congregate shelters, said Michelle Garand, vice president of affordable housing and homeless prevention for Community Partnership of the Ozarks.

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Need for quality shelter in Springfield 'cannot be overstated'

City grant administrator Bob Jones said that removing the restriction on the remaining SLRF funds would increase proposals received. In the course of soliciting proposals for the previous funds, developers discussed the non-congregate restrictions impacting "development costs, how it operates, maintenance — a lot of things that would go into a shelter."

"We believe that we will be successful in obtaining viable bids and proposals for additional shelter services, shelter developments, in the City of Springfield by freeing up almost $1.9 million," Jones said. "If we can just change the wording to allow both non-congregate and congregate, we will resolicit those additional funds."

Councilwoman Monica Horton said the city's need for more shelter beds "cannot be overstated."

"I think this is welcome news that this particular funding has become available for non-congregate, however, we do know that some of the best practices for sheltering is non-congregate," Horton said. "But we recognize that we need a variety of non-congregate as well as congregate shelter, and just an increase, period, in quality shelter beds and sheltering."

Alice Barber, a leader of Springfield's tenant's union, Springfield Tenants Unite, spoke to council during public comment and offered The Connecting Grounds' April 1 street census numbers: 945 people living on streets or in camps and 201 living in their cars.

In an interview with the News-Leader, Garand agreed with Horton on the need for shelter space, regardless of whether it's congregate or non-congregate.

"At the end of the day, we want people to be safe and protected, and we want them to be connected to the resources that can help, whether it's for the day or to the system of care that can get them into long-term supportive housing," Garand said. "This is just one more shelter type we could offer in the community that could either broaden current congregate shelters or create new."

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Number of beds added to community would depend on development

Jones could not provide an estimate of how many shelter beds the $1.9 million would add to the community, saying the number of beds depends on the size of the developments. Additional outside funding, such as in the case of the DED and The Kitchen, could allow the SLRF money to go farther.

"If you get two or three smaller applicants, we could end up funding part or all of two or three smaller (shelters) with our money, as well," Jones said.

Councilman Brandon Jenson asked about a monetary cap per bed, such as in the Missouri Housing Development Council's Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Jones explained that the number of units per dollar is one of the things evaluated, "but it's not the only factor we consider."

Jones also said religious institutions would be eligible to apply, and wouldn't be excluded because they're faith-based or small.

Bill may need amended language

Hosmer expressed concern that based on the ordinance's language, the proposals would not come back to City Council.

"Normally, we have contracts come back to council for approval," Hosmer said.

City manager Jason Gage said that they would be able to do that if they amended the language of the ordinance.

"(There are) no concerns from staff's perspective about having council take a look at the proposals and to make a decision," Gage said.

The council is set to vote on the bill on at the July 10 meeting.

Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield City Council could remove restrictions from shelter funds