Grand Junction council releases $185,000 to shore up local shelters after Homeward Bound presentation

Grand Junction’s City Council voted to release $185,000 in city funds to Homeward Bound on Sept. 1 after the nonprofit’s interim executive director outlined staffing shortages, tightened admission criteria and a funding gap that could force consolidation of two shelters.

Dan Pritzker, interim executive director of Homeward Bound, told the council the organization is operating two facilities — North Avenue for individuals and Pathways for families — below licensed capacity because of staffing constraints. “We still have about 300,000 that we need to raise from now until February,” Pritzker said, summarizing the shortfall his presentation mapped out and describing a plan to consolidate operations at Pathways and close one site in late February.

Pritzker said North Avenue is licensed for 150 (134 bunks) but has been operated at roughly 90 beds to match current staffing; Pathways was described as a 100-bed facility. He gave monthly cost estimates of about $60,000 to operate North Avenue and $80,000 for Pathways and said a consolidated operation would require more case-management staff to move clients through a shorter stay model.

Britney Bear, vice chair of Homeward Bound’s board, described Feb. 27 as a hard date for the planned move-out and said consolidation aims “to serve more people over a less amount of time and do it more efficiently and effectively.” Council members pressed Homeward Bound on post-shelter handoffs and transitional housing capacity; Pritzker acknowledged the shortage of transitional beds and said stronger partnerships would be needed to avoid returning people to street homelessness.

City staff told the council there are roughly $70,000 in unspent navigation-center reimbursements and about $115,000 unspent from the resource center budget, yielding approximately $185,000 the city could make available immediately. Council members discussed options including a straightforward release of those funds, a matching-grant approach to leverage county and municipal contributions, and continuing talks with the county, MCCUH and other partners about a valleywide response.

Councilmembers ultimately directed staff to release the $185,000 previously allocated to Homeward Bound for 2025 to help operate shelters through the winter and to continue coordination with regional partners. The council asked staff to keep the conversation open in the new year for any supplemental funding requests and agreed to meet with county officials about a valley-level strategy.

The council’s action was framed as staff direction rather than a formal ordinance or budget vote; council members described it as releasing funds already appropriated for the organization and intended to leverage additional funds from the county and community donors. Pritzker said fund-raising efforts already in progress include a campaign supported by Bray’s Foundation and an anonymous donor that raised about $150,000 for October–December, and that a Waldeck (WALVEC) allocation historically arrives in March.

The workshop concluded with the council taking a 10-minute recess and scheduling further conversations in the new year about regional coordination and any supplemental funding needs.