“The increase is based upon the experience of the past year, and we also have the announcement of prior to the contract that Sheltered (Inc.) would be shutting down, would not be doing the emergency housing, so we wanted to have a cushion in there to be able to handle additional families,” Martycz said.
Sheltered Inc., a Springfield-based nonprofit that has for 34 years provided shelter services for those experiencing homelessness, reduced its hours at its only open shelter the end of April this year and said it would close the remaining single shelter July 1, if it does not receive additional funding. The nonprofit faces a deficit of around $300,000 for emergency shelter services.
The contract under which Homefull operates the Executive Inn shelter is for those receiving TANF or Prevention, Retention and Contingency services only. 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 TANF.
If Sheltered Inc. were to close its remaining shelter in July, Clark County would not have dedicated shelter space for single adults who have not experienced violence.
Homefull works with unsheltered people to fill needs rooted in housing, health, food access, employment and more. It’s headquartered in Dayton, where it broke ground on a $50 million project last year.
In February last year, Clark County terminated a portion of a $700,000 contract — of which about $495,000 was reimbursed — with Sheltered Inc., which county officials said was due to “multiple violations” in regards to the reimbursement of funds found following a review.
The county entered into a $350,000 contract with Homefull last year through this month following the termination of the contract with Sheltered Inc.
Sheltered Inc. disputed the allegations, and the county entered into an agreement with the Ohio Attorney General in November 2023 to collect money it said is owed by Sheltered Inc., requiring the nonprofit to pay back more than $500,000.
According to Sheltered Inc., the issue was sent back to Clark County by the attorney general last month, but the county has not scheduled any meetings or otherwise made “any attempts to address the purported issues and their resolution.”
The nonprofit also received its usual funding from the city recently, after the city found no issues with management of funds.
Martycz said DJFS is satisfied with Homefull’s performance and its work sheltering and rehousing families. She said the community needs to pull together to help those who Homefull and DJFS cannot help.
“I think we as a community need to pull together every resource, we need to use every resource we can pull in,” Martycz said.
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