Nighttime temperatures remain brutally cold in central Ohio as the Community Shelter Board prepares for its annual point-in-time homelessness count on Thursday.
Meanwhile, shelter board President Shannon Isom said the city isn't putting enough funds toward homelessness prevention in its proposed 2025 budget.
This year’s proposed budget sets aside about $5.9 million for homelessness prevention, which is about $1.5 more than the $4.5 million allocated in 2024.
Isom, however, said that isn't enough. She told council during a budget hearing Tuesday that the board needs about $13.5 million from the city, about $2 million of which would be federal pass-through funds, to keep the current programs it supports running and to keep all beds and warming centers available.
For the past several years, the Community Shelter Board has relied on one-time COVID-era funding, Isom explained. Now, that money is drying up.
"It is no longer a question of how are we using COVID dollars, but instead how are we replacing those dollars for sustainability,” Isom said to council.
Elizabeth Brown, CEO of YWCA Columbus, said that on Tuesday, the coldest day so far this winter, almost 180 people stayed at the family shelter.
“So, if we don't have replacement funds for the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds that expire on June 30th, and if that means that what we have received through CSB does is not able to come anymore, that represents about a 50% cut in my budget for the family center,” Brown told council. “We cannot serve 179 individuals and take new reservations every day with a 50% cut.”
A regional approach
In addition to more funding to simply stay afloat, Isom also asked council members for another $5 million to help create regional approach to homelessness reduction. That puts the total the Community Shelter Board hopes to get from Columbus at about $18.6 million.
Isom explained the board also plans to ask the Franklin County Commissioners and private partners for $5 million each, for a total of around $15,000 to begin using new strategies recommended in a community assessment on homelessness study.
Isom said without that boost, homelessness will increase, in part, because of the ongoing affordable housing crisis.
“The current path will see not only that we will be going and exactly at the same clip we are doing today, but that we will increase unsheltered homelessness as well as homelessness all together,” Isom said.
A tight budget
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said this year’s budget is the “tightest” he has seen during his years on council, but said he wants to prioritize keeping people housed.
“We have three or so weeks as we work to pass a balanced budget that we will have to work together to figure this out,” Hardin said. “Budgets are value propositions about what we value and who we value. And council is committed to working with you to figure out how we make sure that we are not losing beds in central Ohio,” Hardin said.
Community Shelter Board and its partners currently run about 1,430 beds, Isom said.
Isom said roughly 47% of the Community Shelter Board’s money goes to housing, about 34% to shelter and outreach, 5% for prevention and diversion, 3% for crisis services, and 11% for internal and administrative costs.
Hearings on Columbus' proposed $1.23 billion 2025 budget continue 5 p.m. Wednesday at city council chambers, and on Jan. 28.
