Following the City of Springfield’s call for proposals from agencies interested in receiving $5 million to create a “non-congregate” shelter, only one response was received.
The Kitchen, Inc., submitted a letter of intent on Feb. 21 — the deadline for submissions — announcing the nonprofit’s desire to receive the $5 million to fund an addition to its current non-congregate emergency shelter located at 703 N. Glenstone Ave.
Non-congregate shelters are those in which each individual or family has a private living quarter and do not share any type of common dining room or other facility.
“With this potential funding, TKI (The Kitchen, Inc.) could expand our shelter capacity from one 13-unit Emergency Shelter to two shelter facilities with 25 total units,” the letter said in part. “This additional 12-unit facility would allow TKI to house approximately 75 individuals per year in addition to the 700 TKI already serves in our other programs, many of whom are suffering as a direct result of the pandemic.”
The letter of intent was signed by The Kitchen’s CEO Meleah Spencer.
According to the Notice of Funding Availability put out on Jan. 30, the City has dedicated $2.2 million of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME-American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) funds and about $2.8 million of U.S. Treasury Department American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds “to allow for the acquisition, construction, renovation, or rehabilitation of one or more buildings to create one or more Non-Congregate Shelters.”
The Kitchen, Inc. hopes to have addition complete by 2025
The shelter project(s) using ARPA funds must be completed no later than Dec. 31, 2026. Shelter project(s) using HOME-ARP funds must be completed by Sept. 30, 2030.
If The Kitchen’s proposal is approved, the new shelter will hopefully be completed by February of 2025, Chris Ijames, director of development, said in an email.
The Kitchen’s full proposal is due later this month.
“The City reserves the right to allocate less than the amount requested by any applicant and reserves the right to deny any or all applications,” the city’s notice reads in part. “Applicants must show they have secured or have a high likelihood of securing operating funding for at least 10 years, as operating costs cannot be paid with HOME-ARP funds.”
Spencer pointed out in the letter of intent that The Kitchen has provided housing, emergency shelter and support services to people experiencing homelessness in Greene County for 38 years.
The emergency shelter takes referrals from One Door, this community’s coordinated entry, when shelter openings are available. Those referrals that One Door provides could be a family, couple, single man or single woman, Ijames said.
The Kitchen’s current emergency shelter can house up to 50 people at a time. The proposed shelter addition would have 12 units with a capacity of 36-48 people, the letter said.
“It is important to note that shelters, like the one proposed, cost thousands less in comparison to leaving households on the streets,” The Kitchen’s letter said. “According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, it was calculated that just one homeless individual can cost a community around $35,578 a year in services (i.e. police involvement, jail, E.R. visits, and court expenses).
“The ability for TKI to serve an additional 48 people at one time — or roughly 75 a year — would be an investment of only $12,000 per person after five years of operation, when at that point TKI will have served an additional 375 people,” the letter said. “TKI understands that no one organization can end homelessness and poverty alone, but TKI is willing and able to take on the extra responsibility, time, and energy to build and operate a second Emergency Shelter.”
