Committee forwards ordinance to fund Caritas surge beds and casework with $309,000 transfer

The Education and Human Services Standing Committee on Thursday voted to forward ordinance 2025-163 to full council with a recommendation to approve, creating a new Caritas line item and appropriating $309,000 to support surge overflow shelter operations during inclement winter weather.

Committee members and city staff described the funding as one piece of a broader proposal from Caritas that would expand emergency bed capacity and add three full‑time staff to support year‑round case management and housing navigation.

DCAO Amy Popovich, who led the presentation to Chairwoman Lynch and Councilman Breton, said the committee’s first goal was “to have a plan, a budget, and location for additional bed capacity, for singles and families.” Popovich described two separate pieces: surge beds for extreme weather and investments to strengthen year‑round services through the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care. She said Caritas proposed staffing and program investments totaling $618,000 that would fund a shelter supervisor, a case manager and a housing navigator, and that the Caritas proposal included capacity for 60 surge beds for up to 30 nights and additional year‑round supports that staff estimated could help about 50 more people move into permanent housing.

The ordinance before the committee differs from the Caritas proposal. The clerk read ordinance 2025‑163 as an amendment to ordinance 2025‑057 (adopted 05/12/2025) to transfer $200,000 from Heart of Richmond and $109,000 from the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, creating a new Caritas line item and appropriating $309,000 for surge overflow shelter operations.

A city administration representative explained the funding source at the meeting: Heart of Richmond funds had been consolidated to support a higher‑impact project and $109,000 represented unspent funds from a homeless services vacancy. The administration said the $309,000 is a reappropriation from FY25 aimed at limiting fiscal impact on the new fiscal year.

Committee members asked whether the city could exceed the 30‑night surge allocation in an extreme emergency; staff replied there is a prorated per‑night cost and the city could pay for additional nights if needed. Popovich said the package was designed not only to provide temporary shelter during extreme weather but also to “support the broader, work and wrap around work and support that's happening for the unhoused in our community.”

There was no public opposition registered during the hearing. After discussion, a motion to forward the ordinance with a recommendation to approve passed on a roll call vote: Vice Chair Breton, aye; Cheryl Lynch, aye. The motion was recorded as approved by the committee and will be considered by full council.

Clarifying details from the meeting: Caritas presented a proposal described by staff as $618,000 to fund three full‑time positions (shelter supervisor, case manager, housing navigator), estimated capacity for 60 surge beds up to 30 nights, and an expectation of moving roughly 50 additional people through Caritas’ year‑round continuum to more permanent housing; the ordinance forwarded by the committee appropriates $309,000 sourced from a $200,000 transfer from Heart of Richmond and $109,000 from DNCS unspent funds.