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Cold-weather shelter drew higher-than-usual demand; city outlines staffing, facility and RFP next steps
Summary
Office of Homeless Services staff and council members debriefed cold-weather shelter operations, including higher nightly attendance, staff burden, building plumbing problems, medical-service gaps, volunteer constraints and plans to reissue an RFP for future seasons.
Office of Homeless Services Director April Calvin and council members spent substantial time at the Feb. 13 Homelessness Planning Council meeting debriefing the winter overflow cold-weather shelter that OHS operated this season.
Calvin said the shelter averaged about 250 people per night this season and that OHS operated 34 nights to date; she said prior seasons averaged about 40 nights. The shelter functioned as an overflow site, and Calvin emphasized that some other local shelters had unused capacity on many nights while the overflow location saw high traffic.
Council members and OHS staff described operational challenges during the season: plumbing and facilities issues at the repurposed school building used for overflow; theft or removal of soap…
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