Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Wilmington staff outline $26M plan for low-barrier shelters, rapid rehousing and supportive housing
Summary
City staff and partners presented a multi-pronged strategy to reduce unsheltered homelessness, highlighting recent openings and expansions, funding sources and a $26M estimated implementation cost if the full plan (shelters + PSH) is built out.
City staff gave council an update on a region-wide strategy to address unsheltered homelessness that blends low-barrier emergency shelter, rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing.
Rachel Schuler, who coordinates the city’s engagement with the regional Continuum of Care, said the city has moved several short-term items forward in the past year: technical assistance from HUD, a new 75-bed Salvation Army facility and an RFI that drew six responses for a low-barrier shelter model. She said those steps, paired with active landlord engagement and rental assistance, have already improved outcomes in rapid rehousing trials.
Schuler presented a predictive-cost analysis staff used to estimate the total resources needed to implement the recommended strategy. The analysis showed capital and first-year operating estimates varying by model: new construction permanent supportive housing units could be in a ~$7.5M range per project (land costs excluded), shelters and day centers could require multiyear campaigns (examples in the packet included Salvation Army and Good Shepherd expansions), and annual supportive-services costs were estimated roughly at $10,000 per person for high-intensity models and about $13,000 per person for scattered-site supports.
The city currently contributes municipal funds (including HOME and CDBG allocations), participates in the Cape Fear Continuum of Care (led by the Council of Governments) and works with philanthropic partners. Schuler said the city’s current fiscal-year contributions, including social-worker co-responder positions and grants routed through municipal programs, total roughly $1 million in direct investments this year, with additional leverage from federal and philanthropic grants.
Councilmembers asked how quickly housing units and supportive services could be stood up, and whether the nonprofit partners that run shelters could continue day-center operations as facilities move, expand, or change. Schuler said staff is preparing more detailed RFP material and predictive numbers and encouraged council members to visit peer sites to see low-barrier, mixed-model examples in operation.
The council did not take formal action but asked staff to continue partner coordination, finalize RFP parameters and return with a recommended financing plan and clear milestones for any city capital or operating commitments.
