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Christian Health Associates reports family-shelter operations; program says funding shortfalls led to January turnaways
Summary
Christian Health Associates updated the committee on the family emergency cold-weather shelter system: in one night their single‑site and hotel overflow sheltered 14 families (51 people). The provider said a 10% funding cut reduced hotel room capacity and led to 74 family turnaways in January; later municipal funds helped eliminate turnaways.
Dave Kuiper, associate director at Christian Health Associates, and Taria Ware, data and report manager, briefed the committee on family emergency cold‑weather shelter operations and outcomes.
“Last night, our single site facility, sheltered 8 families that consisted of 12 adults and 15 children,” Kuiper said. He described a single‑site duplex that can house families plus hotel overflow used to manage surges.
Taria Ware said the program provides housing navigation, application assistance, case management and transportation support. She noted the program tracks both sheltered families and families who receive navigation services even if they do not enter congregate shelter.
Why it matters: The family shelter program said housing navigation plus access to security deposit and first-month rent assistance have led to measurable housing exits; Taria Ware said 22 families were housed in 2024 through the program. The program partners with 2-1-1 and Awake for intake and dispatch, and with school district transition services for children.
Funding impact and turnaways: Ware said a 10% funding reduction in October 2024 reduced hotel-room flexibility and in January the program “had to turn away 74 families in 1 month.” She told the committee that subsequent use of leftover 2024 funds reversed the worst turnaway months and the provider reported no turnaways after the additional funds were made available.
Program scale and system effects: Kuiper and Ware said volunteers remain essential to the hotel- and church-based model; volunteers provide meals and staffing that keep operating costs low. Ware also noted household composition constraints that can force a program to refuse shelter when available room configurations cannot safely or appropriately accommodate a family’s size or adult composition.
Ending: Christian Health Associates asked the committee to preserve flexible funding for hotel overflow capacity during peak months and to continue partnership on navigation, transportation and rapid‑exit resources so the family shelter program can keep families out of street homelessness.
