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Shelter system leaders urge Columbus to bridge $13M‑plus gap as pandemic aid ends
Summary
The Community Shelter Board and nonprofit shelter providers told Columbus City Council that emergency and stabilization programs rely on federal and ARPA funding that is ending; they asked the city to add roughly $5 million (city share) to prevent loss of capacity and sustain warming centers, prevention and shelter programs.
Shannon Isom, president and CEO of the Community Shelter Board (CSB), told Columbus City Council on Jan. 21 that the local homelessness response depends on a mix of federal, county, city and private funds and that the expiration of pandemic and ARPA dollars threatens current system capacity.
“47% of our dollars are spent in housing. 34% of our dollars are spent within shelter and outreach,” Isom said, describing CSB's funding mix and its role as a centralized funder of 16 partner agencies. She said the system adds noncongregate beds, warming centers and hotel placements during extreme weather and that those responses expand operating costs.
Nut graf: CSB presented data and a modeled funding plan that asks the city for a $5 million annual contribution as part of a near‑term $15 million operating and service investment (split among city, county and philanthropic partners) to stabilize shelter and add permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and noncongregate family shelter capacity.
Isom described the scale of current operations and asks. She said the system currently spends about $13.6 million annually on existing programming supported by city funds and federal pass‑through dollars, and that CSB asked for an additional $5 million in city funds to begin implementation of Focus Strategy recommendations; combined these would bring the city share to about $18.7 million for the year when existing program costs and the CSB ask are combined. CSB proposed the $15 million investment be split $5 million city / $5 million county / $5 million private/philanthropic; the consultant model CSB presented also suggested adding 375 permanent supportive housing units and 250 rapid‑rehousing slots over the model period.
Isom and shelter providers noted operational details: warming centers served dozens of people during recent cold nights; CSB is paying for hotels for hundreds of people during overflow periods; and prevention and diversion programs have been effective but rely on one‑time federal funding. Elizabeth Brown, president and CEO of YWCA Columbus, told council that the family shelter served 79 people on a recent extremely cold day and said a 50% cut in typical funding (if ARPA and other replacement funds are not identified) would make current operations unsustainable.
Several nonprofit leaders urged the city to identify permanent, sustainable local revenue sources rather than rely on one‑time federal funds. Council members acknowledged the gravity of the ask and said city and county partners must work together; administration officials said they were looking for internal savings and other options to stretch local funds.
Ending: Council members said budget deliberations over the next 3–4 weeks must address how to avoid reductions in shelter and prevention capacity; administration and CSB committed to continued conversations to identify replacement funding.
