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Council questions ARPA reallocation to fund school‑age homelessness pilot tied to Provident Place
Summary
Council was briefed on a memorandum of understanding to continue an 'end school‑age homelessness' pilot that would fund operator First Things First at Provident Place; administration proposed a $450,000 ARPA reallocation to cover three years of operating support, prompting questions about other unspent ARPA awards and Ed Connect.
Vice Chair Elliot asked administration to explain resolution item C: Kevin (administration) described an MOU among the city, county, Chattanooga 2.0, the housing authority, First Things First and Hamilton County Schools to continue a pilot program launched in February 2025 to identify students experiencing homelessness and connect them to shelter.
Kevin said Provident Place will be the operator and that Chattanooga 2.0 requested three years of operational support at $150,000 per year. "What the administration is proposing is to pay for it all at once through a reallocation of available ARPA dollars," he said. The total ask is $450,000; staff said roughly $200,000 would be reallocated from airport holding or utilities/security line items and $250,000 would come from a low‑barrier shelter ARPA bucket that staff said currently totals about $2.84 million.
Councilman Clark pressed for clarity on other ARPA allocations that remain unspent from 2021 awards. He said some organizations remain "not in contract" for work awarded five years ago; administration responded that a small number of grantees have outstanding administrative issues and the grants team is working to close out those awards. Clark asked specifically about the HCS Ed Connect program and requested follow‑up. Kevin agreed to provide more details and to reconnect grants staff with council members.
Public comment supported the Airport Inn/Provident Place proposal. Mackenzie Kelly, executive director of the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, called the project a "meaningful investment" for families and cited the coalition's data: "Our most recent state of homelessness report shows that more than 1,600 students in Hamilton County experienced homelessness during a single school year." Brooks Satderfield, a former city deputy chief of staff, said the project will add more than 120 shelter beds for families and emphasized that progress on shelter capacity is meaningful even if it does not end homelessness.
Council requested itemized budget pages and additional follow‑up before final votes. Administration said no ARPA funds will be spent without explicit council approval and invited further conversations about reallocations and grantee contract status.
