The former hotel was to open in mid June as a temporary homeless shelter, but work on the facility delayed that until a portion of the building opened in late July.
The Executive Inn site was intended to serve as a temporary homeless shelter for about a year while the city brings another, more permanent housing site online, but that also may not go according to the original plan.
Two families remained in the Executive Inn shelter, Lough said. She said the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services coordinated the relocation of the six families to motels.
The city purchased the Executive Inn for $2.2 million in January through American Rescue Plan Act funds and approved a $1.34 million agreement with Homefull in April. Officials have said the site would be redeveloped once a more permanent solution was developed.
Clark County in July approved a similar agreement with Homefull, allocating $350,000 of TANF funds to help the organization provide emergency shelter and case management in Clark County for one year.
The 75-unit non-congregate Executive Inn shelter had been accepting families who had been staying in motels on vouchers to reside in the building as rooms were slowly brought online. Tina Patterson, Homefull chief executive officer, said in July the agency was accepting residents as each room was brought online.
“Shelters should be filled if you have a homeless problem, so we want to make sure that we get the beds ready,” Patterson said in July.
Homefull works with unsheltered people to fill housing, health, food access, employment and other needs. In Dayton, it broke ground on a $50 million project last month.
Tina Koumoutsos, housing coordinator at the Clark County Combined Health District, said everyone involved is “working hard to get those units back online and address those deficiencies.” She said the building was in disrepair, so some “glitches” were inevitable.
Sheltered Inc. was previously considered by the city as a nonprofit to oversee functions at the location, but the project went to Homefull due to “financial issues” Sheltered is facing in the aftermath of a county contract cancellation, city manager Bryan Heck said during a city commission meeting in April.
Clark County terminated in February a portion of a $700,000 contract with Sheltered Inc. after “multiple violations” in regards to the reimbursement of funds were found following a review. About $495,000 was reimbursed by the county to Sheltered.
Prevention, Retention and Contingency, or PRC, is a program through Ohio DJFS that provides work support and other services to low-income families. This program is funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a federally funded program.
OIC Executive Director Mike Calabrese said OIC refers people experiencing homelessness who seek help to Sheltered Inc., and he thinks the Executive Inn situation is creating more instability for people and families.
“It’s very unfortunate that these people who are already in crisis are now having to pack up and move again,” Calabrese said.
Homefull referred questions regarding the relocation of the families to the city.
Plans for the Villager Inn, which was purchased for $1.7 million about nine months ago, are uncertain due to the condition of the building. A Tuesday night fire also did more damage to some of the property’s rooms.
About the Author