Restart to Triple Family Shelter Capacity with Main Street Family Lodge, Seeks County Partnership

Stephanie Boyer, CEO of Restart, told the Jackson County Legislature that Restart will host a ribbon cutting in about 30 days for the Main Street Family Lodge, "which will be 100% families. We will be tripling our capacity for families to serve there." She said the lodge will operate as interim housing where most families stay 3 to 6 months before moving to permanent housing and estimated the program could serve roughly 150 families per year once operational.

Boyer framed the expansion as part of a broader response to rising homelessness and rental costs in Jackson County. She said Restart has operated 45 years and "serves over 1,300 people a year," reporting large year-over-year increases in homelessness and noting the agency turned away families seeking shelter in both 2024 and 2025. Boyer asked the legislature to consider county investment to help scale programs and to collaborate on longer-term permanent housing projects; she also announced new duplexes opening July 9 in Indian Mound and described ongoing funding and property negotiations for additional permanent units.