Lawrence council considers $268,180 state grant to add 204 winter shelter beds; councilors seek details on locations and timing

The Lawrence City Council on Dec. 16 heard a motion to accept and spend $268,180 from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to secure 204 winter overnight shelter and warming-center beds.

The motion, offered by Budget & Finance Committee chair Stephanie Pham, came with a favorable committee recommendation but councilors pressed staff for concrete details about where the beds would be provided and whether the funding could be used outside of winter emergencies.

"The letter that was sent to the council said the grant is to secure and fund 204 beds for winter, overnight shelter and warming centers," Councilor LaPlante said after reviewing the packet. "So my question is: despite the language in the recitals, are we going to be using this beyond the scope of winter — even in the summer and the spring?"

Milagro Griong, the city’s homelessness initiatives coordinator, replied that the grant carries a firm expenditure deadline and that the funds must be used by April 30, 2026. "These funds are going to be used, and they all have a deadline… It is 04/30/2026. That's when we need to use, exhaust, expend all this money that we are getting," Griong said.

Griong described the next steps as a procurement process: the city will issue a request for proposals (RFP) to organizations that want to provide overnight shelter or warming-center services. She said the Lazarus House will add 24 beds for the winter season and that Daybreak Shelter currently has no available capacity. Griong also said the 204 figure was shaped by prior years' experience and street outreach counts and that awardees will be asked to open additional beds where possible.

Councilors asked several operational questions that Griong said remain pending the RFP responses: the exact locations where beds will be hosted, the total number of beds in the city across providers, and outreach plans to bring people into coordinated shelter. "Once they apply, then we will have a number that we can work with getting outreach workers to bring the people to the different shelters that apply," she said.

The motion was placed on the table with the committee’s recommendation during the meeting record provided in the packet; no final vote was recorded in the meeting transcript for Item 4-71-25. The council did not adopt a detailed spending plan at the Dec. 16 meeting; councilors said they would follow up once RFP responses and provider details are available.

The authorization under discussion would allow the city to expend state grant funds specifically awarded by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to secure emergency shelter capacity in Lawrence during winter weather events. The packet language cited securing "204 beds for winter overnight shelter and warming centers." Griong characterized some prior-season activity as informing the number, noting cumulative service nights of about 135 across prior nights but clarifying that the 204-bed number reflects the proposal submitted to the state.

Next steps: staff said an RFP will be issued and that providers who apply will be vetted to host beds; the city must expend the grant dollars by April 30, 2026, per staff statements in the meeting.