Lifeboat Services urges Clatsop County to reverse steep shelter funding cut
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Lifeboat Services testified to the Clatsop County Board that a county funding formula would reduce the nonprofit’s shelter funding by roughly $170,000 for fiscal 2025, threatening the operation of its 22‑bed low‑barrier shelter and prompting allegations the county treated different shelter models unequally.
Representatives of Lifeboat Services told the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners that the nonprofit faces a substantial county funding cut that would undermine its low‑barrier shelter operations.
Erin Carlson, associate director of Lifeboat Services, said Lifeboat received $1,250,000 from the state in 2023 to create new low‑barrier shelter beds and used those funds to open a 22‑bed shelter. "We created our shelter program with a budget of 625,000 a year," Carlson said. She said Lifeboat "used grant funding for major costs such as a wheelchair lift and a sprinkler system" and that the program had served hundreds of people: she cited 631 unique individuals served to date, 32,107 meals and 64,743 basic‑needs services delivered.
Carlson said the county’s funding formula would award Lifeboat $454,000 for the 2025 fiscal year — a decline of about $170,000 from prior support — while directing a larger share to a partner shelter, the Columbia Inn. "Under the county's funding formula now, we will be awarded $454,000 for the 2025 fiscal year on a $170,000 decrease in funding," she said, adding that Lifeboat had no funds left over at the end of the biennium.
Wilfred Bozart, speaking for Lifeboat, characterized the county’s process as coercive and inequitable. He said Lifeboat was "strong‑armed into signing a funding agreement using threats and manipulation," and that the county’s bed‑based formula does not account for differences between shelter models: Lifeboat operates low‑barrier walk‑in capacity and serves higher‑risk clients while the Columbia Inn operates a longer‑term transitional housing model.
Bozart asked commissioners to visit Lifeboat’s shelter and review decisions about service cuts, staffing and meals: "Please make this make sense to us," he said. The speakers asserted that state guidance (described in their materials as a governor's emergency order and related house bills) required sustaining new shelter beds and that Lifeboat’s reduction appeared to contradict that instruction.
County leaders did not announce a change at the meeting. A commissioner thanked the speakers and said the board would "take it back and discuss" the Lifeboat concerns with staff. No formal funding decision or vote occurred during the meeting.