Pueblo to seek nonprofit operator for city shelter; council directs RFP while staff readies city-run option

Melissa Cook, the city—9s CDBG home and housing administrator, presented a detailed update on the Pueblo emergency shelter at the Feb. 3 work session and recommended publishing a request for proposals to find a qualified nonprofit to operate the facility while the city retains oversight of the property.

Why it matters: The shelter serves unhoused residents during extreme weather and nightly operations; decisions on who operates it affect service continuity, city liability, competitiveness for grants and the general fund. Staff projected a substantial first-year funding gap and warned that some grant revenues would not be available until year two or later.

Cook said the shelter land was transferred to the city in November and the Pueblo Rescue Mission nonprofit dissolved at year-end. The shelter on the Porchlight campus is open nightly; Cook reported average nightly counts of 20 to 40 residents in the residential program and about 30 to 40 in the emergency shelter, with totals nearly doubling during the January extreme-cold event. SafeSide, a small nonprofit, is operating the interim shelter under city support; staff said SafeSide has…