St. Cloud approves Avivo Village site and funds
ST. CLOUD — The St. Cloud City Council on March 25 approved leasing an acre of land at 3100 1st St. S to Avivo Village, a homeless shelter comprising of 56 individual units.
The council also approved giving the organization $750,000 in Statewide Affordable Housing Aid program funds and roughly $196,000 in 2024 Community Development Block Grant funds. At the council’s March 11 meeting, Avivo received $232,000 in 2023 Community Development Block Grant funds.
Avivo President and CEO Kelly Matter previously told the St. Cloud Times that Avivo’s model is intended to provide residents with a safer, more dignified living space. After residents get acclimated, they work with Avivo’s professional staff to transition into permanent housing.
More: City council to debate Avivo Village homeless shelter March 25
“We help them take those next steps, which includes finding appropriate housing, career training, employment and health care,” Matter said. “A lot of people have health issues that are not being addressed because they're sleeping outside. We really try to help people get connected to the services they need, which means permanent housing.”This will be Avivo’s second shelter following a Minneapolis location that opened in December 2020. The Minneapolis location has helped more than 460 people, 12 dogs and seven cats. The typical Avivo resident stays for 154 days with 42% finding permanent housing, 31% returning to the streets and 7% going to jail, according to city documents.
St. Cloud’s approval comes at a crucial time for the Avivo Village project whose more than $7.5 million in state funding would otherwise dissipate at the end of the month.
“The State of Minnesota did see this as a viable solution to address homelessness in your community,” Matter told the City Council on Monday. “I will point out we need a contract by March 31st and that’s the importance of tonight's meeting, without approval tonight (state funding) will go back.”
Council’s decision to support the project comes despite local businesses voicing concerns. Businesses expressed frustrations regarding lackluster neighborhood input, safety, crime and decreased property values.
“We sent a survey to (our members) to ask what they thought about the project. We encouraged them whether they decided to support the project or not support the project to get involved with the democratic process,” St. Cloud Financial Credit Union Chief Experience Officer Meggan Schwirtz said. “Our members overwhelmingly reached out to us with their thoughts, concerns and opinions…64% did not support the proposed location site.”
Avivo said it will create a Good Neighbor Agreement with local organizations to avoid any conflicts, something its neighbors in Minneapolis say has a history of success.
City Council voted 5-2 on leasing the land to Avivo with Councilmembers George Hontos and Jake Anderson opposing.
— Corey Schmidt is a freelance reporter for the St. Cloud Times.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud approves Avivo Village site and funds
