Homefull’s emergency shelter to open some rooms in mid-June

Springfield City Commissioners earlier this year approved $2.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to purchase the Executive Inn, saying the 325 W. Columbia St. property and adjacent lots would be used as a temporary solution to provide more non-congregate shelter options in the city.

“We are grateful to the city for the $2.2 million acquisition, but it is for a limited number of years,” Koumoutsos said. “Ultimately, this is right in the heart of economic development for the city, and it’s really a critical transition point.”

Homefull will operate the Executive Inn site for one year, and ownership of the building will remain with the city. It may be redeveloped to serve another function in the future.

Homefull works with unsheltered people to fill housing, health, food access, employment and other needs. It’s headquartered in Dayton, where it broke ground on a $50 million project last month.

Ross Cunningham, federal programs manager for the city, said during the meeting that beds ordered for the shelter are scheduled to arrive in mid-June, and a lease agreement between the nonprofit and the city has been completed. He said cleanout and other work is expected to finish within the next few weeks.

Shelter employees will be onboarded in that time frame too, Cunningham said.

Congregate shelters have open spaces for housing unsheltered people. Non-congregate shelters, often set up like dormitories or hotels, include rooms for families to live by themselves and have privacy.

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” it is facing in the aftermath of the contract cancellation, city manager Bryan Heck said during a city commission meeting last month.

The nonprofit closed one of its emergency shelters this month, and announced it would stop offering services at low-income apartments that housed 27 individuals.

Sheltered Inc. had a lease contract with the Springfield Metropolitan Authority for Woodford Apartments that expired at the end of 2022, Executive Director Elaina Bradley said earlier this month. Sheltered Inc. rented the apartments from SMHA on a month-to-month agreement, but SMHA has ended the agreement to “pursue other purposes or ownership of the property,” Bradley said then.

A month before the Executive Inn purchase, the city commission moved to buy the Villager Inn at 1715 W. North St. for $1.7 million, which also came from ARPA funds.

The city plans to use the Executive Inn site as a non-congregate shelter while it brings the Villager Inn space back online. The temporary shelter will then be phased out, according to the city.

Koumoutsos said the city put out a request for proposal for a developer who will make plans for the site. Because it is so large, the Villager Inn can serve as both a housing space and a place for supportive services.