Springfield's Safe to Sleep one step closer to receiving leftover ARPA funds from city
With remaining pandemic relief funds, City of Springfield is looking to help pay for a permanent location for the Safe to Sleep women's homeless shelter. While the decision is not yet final, the city could contribute about $1.1 million to the $5.8 million project.
After an application process for $1.9 million from the U.S. Treasury Department, Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) American Rescue Plan Act funding did not result in the recommendation of support for Safe to Sleep, Springfield City Council looked to find another avenue to fund the community resource.
The ARPA Review Committee met Thursday to discuss available funding that could be used for Safe to Sleep.
In search of a permanent home
Operated by the Council of Churches of the Ozarks, Safe to Sleep is the only low-barrier shelter that has been serving exclusively women in the city, many of whom are seniors, since 2011. Currently, the shelter operates out of a gymnasium at the Pathway United Methodist Church. While the zoning of the church would technically bar shelter use, City Council has granted an "economic calamity" exception across years to allow the operations to continue. But nevertheless, this is not a permanent solution.
The CCO is in search of a new, permanent home for Safe to Sleep services, which ideally would bring the shelter closer to the new CCO headquarters, allow for more day programming and give more space for storage and hot meal preparations.
The organization is in the process of acquiring a property adjacent to their headquarters, where Safe to Sleep offices and permanent staff are currently located. According to city documents, a permanent location would eliminate the need to reset the shelter every day as they are required to do at the church, where the space is only available from 7:30 p.m.- 7:30 a.m.
Councilwoman and Committee Member Callie Carroll said one of the biggest benefits of this project will be having the shelter in close proximity to the rest of CCO resources like the Crosslines Food Pantry and various programs geared toward children.
Why was the project not selected before?
The main reason Safe to Sleep was not selected for the SLFRF funds — which were specifically slated for a congregate shelter — was that the project will not add additional shelter beds, but rather move the current 50 to a permanent location. CCO had also not yet acquired the property, which lost them points in the project readiness category. At Monday's council meeting, CCO's Executive Director Jaimie Trussell said the shelter has never been full, with an average of 35 women staying there each night.
Trussell noted that while they were not adding capacity, the implications of losing the current 50 beds could be detrimental to the community if the project cannot be funded.
Bob Jones, the city's grant administrator, said the requests for funds were not ineligible but rather the project did not receive a recommendation because of how it measured up to the other applicants on the grading scale. Staff recommended awarding most of the funds to The Salvation Army for a new shelter that will almost double the current capacity at Harbor House, and a smaller portion to Women's Medical Respite, which is in the process of moving into a new home that will be able to serve eight instead of five women.
The lack of recommendation brought Trussell to the Monday meeting to highlight the need for the funds and the worthiness of the investment in Safe to Sleep. Following her comments, council agreed to move forward with the staff recommendations but also take a look at other ways to fund the shelter.
Remaining funds and where to spend them
The City of Springfield has about $2.5 million remaining in unallocated ARPA funds. A part of this was set aside for any public health costs that may come up, but with a deadline to spend the money by Dec. 31, 2026, the ARPA Committee felt comfortable considering how to spend it.
More: City staff pick new emergency homeless shelters for funding, others ask to be reconsidered
The project for a Safe to Sleep permanent building budgets $2.5 million for the acquisition, $3.3 million for renovations and $5,000 for architectural fees. While the ARPA Committee recommended funding $1.1 million of this, as CCO had originally requested, the organization has also acquired $1.9 million from the Missouri Department of Economic Development that requires a local match. Trussell told council the remaining amount will be fundraised.
"This is a service that saves lives," Councilwoman Heather Hardinger said. "This would have a really impactful benefit to the community."
The allocation is not final until the full council approves it. The item will likely be in front of the council in February. In the meantime, the council will continue on with distributing SLFRF funds to The Salvation Army and Women's Medical Respite when it votes on the item on Jan. 22.
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: Safe to Sleep looks for permanent home, vies for ARPA funding
