After withdrawing its $4 million request for federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds from the city of Springfield a few weeks ago, The Connecting Grounds submitted a second request last week for six smaller projects.
The Connecting Grounds Church has been serving the Ozarks’ unsheltered community since 2018. In addition to the church, it operates an outreach center where people can get services such as medical care, clothes and bus passes (when available). It also has outreach teams who reach people living on the streets, in vehicles, motels and camps.
The church is hoping the following projects get funded:
- $50,000 to add showers and outdoor bathrooms to the Outreach Center at 3000 W. Chestnut Expressway
- $30,000 to add storage at the Outreach Center
- $24,000 to expand the hours at the Outreach Center
- $93,350 for the outreach fund that is used for homeless diversion and a variety of other needs
- $340,000 to purchase and remodel a second respite house for those too sick to be on the street, but too well to be hospitalized
- $40,000 to create an emergency family shelter inside the church at 4341 W. Chestnut Expressway
The original ARPA request would have helped the church fund its “Roots of Community” project to construct two campuses, one with an emergency shelter for unsheltered families and the other with a shelter for individuals or couples and medical respite beds.
Pastor Christie Love said she is not giving up on the Roots of Community project, but is setting the plans aside for now. She had hoped to raise $12 million to complete the project.
The new requests for ARPA funds combined total $650,000.
Outdoor showers, bathrooms for homeless
The church is asking for $50,000 to purchase six outdoor shower pods, construct an area at the Outreach Center for them to be set up, hire someone to construct the area and run plumbing, and purchase a large propane tank and propane for a year’s worth of showers.
The funds would also be used to purchase a handicap-accessible port-a-potty. The church already has a regular port-a-potty at the center.
Having access to bathrooms and showers has been a huge issue for homeless people in Springfield for years. But the issue was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic when many public places closed or no longer allowed homeless inside to use the facilities.
In 2021, the News-Leader spoke to several homeless people about how they felt ARPA funds should be spent. They all said having a place to use the bathroom should be a priority.
Love agrees with them.
“We have a lot of places at night where bathrooms are locked, people don’t have access to them,” Love said. “We have a lot of situations where businesses would rather people not come in to just use the bathrooms.
“Having public access to bathrooms is huge and so critically needed,” she said.
Love described the shower pods they intend to purchase as looking like port-a-potties, but they are bigger, heated and have hot water, offer privacy and can be locked
Homeless need a place to store belongings
The new ARPA request includes $30,000 to create storage for the unsheltered community at the Outreach Center.
Storage is an issue for the homeless because they have to carry all their belongings with them at all times or risk it getting stolen or thrown away. Not having a place to store their belongings is also a barrier to employment and getting into shelters, Love said.
“Having the ability for people to condense their belongings down is really a challenge so that you don’t have all of these bags or carts or wagons that you’re pulling,” she said.
The Connecting Grounds is hoping to add two Conex units at the back of the Outreach Center and put shelves with large Rubbermaid tubs big enough for three large backpacks.
People could put off-season clothes like overalls and heavy coats away for the summer rather than having to throw them away only to need replacements when winter comes the next year, Love said. They’d also have a safe place for family photos and other cherished items.
Funds needed to hire staff, expand hours
The Connecting Grounds is asking for $24,000 so an additional staff member could be hired to oversee operations at the Outreach Center at expanded times.
Currently, the center is open 12 hours a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
“One of the big things that we all heard from the consultants (hired by the city) which really kind of validated what we already knew, which is that there just aren’t enough resources open often enough,” Love said. “We desperately would like to change that.”
Outreach fund nearly depleted this summer
The fourth project in the Connecting Grounds request is $93,350 in funds for the Outreach Fund. The Outreach Fund is used for supplies, food, medical supplies and diversion and discretionary funds to help people overcome barriers to employment, housing or shelter programs.
“This summer has been really hard on our Outreach Fund. Our giving is the lowest it’s been since COVID hit,” Love said. “Inflation hit hard and we just haven’t seen as many donations into our Outreach fund.
“It is not uncommon that places like One Door, Salvation Army and others will send people to us because that fund is not necessarily grant funded,” Love said. “We have a lot more flexibility to say yes.”
This fund is used for things like putting people and families into hotel rooms, paying for vehicle repairs, new shoes for people starting new jobs, prescriptions and rental assistance.
Plans include a second respite home
The Connecting Grounds owns the home behind the Outreach Center and uses it as a three-bedroom respite program for homeless men who need a place to recover from sickness, injury or surgery.
In its new ARPA request, the Connecting Grounds is asking for $340,000 to purchase a 4 or 5-bedroom house, do needed renovations to comply with American Disabilities Act codes and set the house up with furniture. This would become the men's respite home, and the smaller home behind the Outreach Center could serve as a respite house for women.
“We desperately need a second house. We are constantly, constantly turning people away,” Love said. “We get requests from One Door. We get requests from Mercy hospital a lot. We just haven’t had a lot of turnover at our respite house. We’ve got several long-term medically fragile people there right now.
“We’ve got a gentleman with us right now that’s recovering from an amputation. He lost his leg to frostbite in February and so he’s been with us all the way through the healing process,” Love said. “We’ve had patients come in for kidney failure, heart failure. We’ve had people come in with cancer.”
According to the proposal to the city, the respite program “strives to help find the next steps for guests that do not require them to return to the streets.”
Of the 18 guests who’ve stayed at the respite house so far, 11 of them have gone on to housing, programs or returned to family.
Church to be overnight shelter for families
The final ARPA request is for $40,000, which will provide a salary for a staff member to oversee an overnight shelter inside the church building for three families with children.
The shelter will be modeled after Safe to Sleep, an overnight shelter for women that is housed inside Pathways United Methodist Church and operated by the Council of Churches. The shelter would be open from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., which would allow families to have both dinner and breakfast.
“We’ve got the ability to do showers at the church, have a safe place to sleep and have breakfast,” Love said. “And then allow kids and families to get off to school or work or whatever that entails. It would be kind of an emergency transition until we can get them into another housing program or shelter program.”
“One of the most disturbing things that I think I’m seeing right now in Springfield is just the increased frequency of families on the streets with their kids,” Love said. “They’ve run out of hotel money. They’re sleeping in their car.”
Love pointed out that the church has already been approved to be a crisis cold weather shelter during the winter months. If funded, Love would need to get approval to provide shelter on a consistent basis and be able to shelter children.
“The need is just so incredibly overwhelming right now,” Love said. “I feel like it’s just this crisis that is coming to a head. Sober living (programs) are full. Family shelters are full. Domestic violence shelters are full. There just aren’t any options right now.
“We’ve got tons of people that have gotten housing vouchers,” she added, “but those vouchers are like $606 (a month) and that doesn’t get you anything right now.”
Learn more about Connecting Grounds’ programs by visiting the website.
