Township urges coordinated response as pop-up cooling shelter opens amid heat wave

Cunningham Township staff announced a weeklong pop-up cooling shelter and expanded outreach this week as officials warned of dangerous heat and a growing population of people sleeping in cars and abandoned buildings. The shelter, hosted at a church, provided 30 cots and staffed day-and-night services for seven days and six nights; staffing costs for the week are about $10,000, paid with a mix of grants and partner funding.

The announcement matters because township staff said existing low-barrier shelter capacity is far smaller than the need: staff estimated “150-plus” residents sleeping outside in cars or abandoned buildings and reported engaging 101 individuals and nine families in June; Strides had a wait list of about 30 on July 1. Township staff said low-barrier bed capacity has fallen over the last decade even as homelessness has grown.

Township staff said the pop-up shelter was funded and staffed through a combination of sources: the CARES team via a HHI grant, contracted services funded by United Way and City of Champaign, and “angel donor” funds for food. The township procured a bus from Carle Foundation Hospital to transport people, and officials said the City of Champaign purchased a street-outreach vehicle. The shelter location was limited to 30 cots because of fire-code and space constraints at the site.

Staff described the shelter as prioritizing medically fragile people and seniors and said Salvation Army provided space and services such as showers. Intake is required because children are present at the site; staff said people who arrive that day can receive an intake and may get a cot the same night.

The township asked all public entities that are regularly staffed to open as cooling centers “based on behavior, not homeless status” during staffed hours, allowing people to sit quietly and cool down unless they pose a behavioral threat to others. Staff said city hall was designated as a cooling station for the first time in three administrations and urged the county, city of Champaign, the University of Illinois and tax-exempt institutions such as churches and hospitals to allow people in based on behavior standards and to coordinate referrals to Strides when needed.

Board members asked clarifying questions about capacity and duration. A trustee asked whether 30 beds were adequate; staff said the 30-bed capacity is sufficient for the immediate week but said the community needs a permanent overflow option and better data on bed capacity over the past 10 to 20 years to plan long-term. Staff said they are compiling historical bed-capacity data and a homelessness timeline to guide planning.

Staff also warned against displacing people who have created informal safe spaces, saying research and local experience show that dispersing such groups can increase the risk of overdose and other harms. They urged a public-safety approach that treats housing as part of first response and called for multiagency leadership to expand sheltering capacity.

No formal board action to change policy or to allocate additional funds was taken during the meeting; the board heard the report and discussed next steps. Township staff said the pop-up shelter was scheduled to end on Saturday because the church location is not available on Sundays and emphasized the need for public spaces that are consistently available.

Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the meeting record and questions/discussion during the officer’s report on summer cooling shelters.