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Mission Arvada volunteers urge city funding as shelter staff departures loom
Summary
Volunteers and service providers told the City Council Mission Arvada needs more sustained city support to maintain an overnight shelter and day services; speakers provided usage and cost figures and said a trained staff member plans to leave this summer.
Speakers at the May 20 Arvada City Council meeting urged the city to sustain funding and staff support for Mission Arvada, the local nonprofit running day shelter services and an overnight shelter operated this past winter.
“Without spending local tax dollars, you have the opportunity to make a huge impact,” Vera Ananda, volunteer coordinator and data administrator at Mission Arvada, told the council. She thanked the city for a HUD transformational homeless response grant Arvada received and said Mission Arvada’s staff and volunteers should be included in public planning and outreach.
Several Mission Arvada volunteers and longtime volunteers described the shelter’s recent workload and costs. Tom Ochsner, a clinical psychologist and volunteer, said Mission Arvada hosted 277 unique individuals and an average of 45 individuals per night during the 45 coldest nights of the past winter, totaling 2,035 overnight stays. He said Mission Arvada’s direct cost…
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