The funding will be on a per head, per family basis and will come from Ohio Department of Development American Rescue Plan Act dollars, OIC executive director Mike Calabrese said.
Sheltered Inc. executive Elaina Bradley, who is resigning effective July 26, said single men, single women, children and families will all be eligible for the funding. She said the nonprofit was “delighted” to receive news of the funding.
“We are working to access additional funding and support that will help fill the gap for the remainder of the year and have applied for additional funds that we will get notification (for) first quarter of ‘25 to support emergency shelter operations,” Bradley said. “So we’re continuing to move forward to access additional funding so it has less of an impact to the organization and to the community to keep the emergency shelter open.”
OIC previously funded Sheltered Inc. through the Homeless Assistance Program with ARPA dollars, spending more than $607,000 to support more than 600 people at the nonprofit’s shelters and local hotels.
Those funds ran out, as did ARPA funds for OIC’s rental assistance for landlords and tenants, which Bradley said is one of the major challenges contributing to the homelessness crisis in the Springfield area. Adequate affordable housing is one of the most important solutions to chronic homelessness, and when a person receives a voucher that is time-limited and they cannot find an affordable place to stay, they end up losing that resource.
“Without having that resource we are foreseeing that we’re going to see a larger increase of the amount of individuals and families that are going to be displaced and in need of emergency shelter,” Bradley said.
>> Sheltered Inc. director to resign effective July 26
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. But Sheltered Inc. disputed the allegations.
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.
Sheltered Inc. has the only shelters in the county that house single individuals that have not experienced violence.
Sheltered Inc.’s intake office at 440 W. High St. will continue to be open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and intakes are being done in person or by phone at 937-521-1171, Bradley said. The nonprofit also still has funding for prevention services for those at risk of becoming homeless within 40 days. In these cases, Sheltered Inc. would help with rental or utility assistance.
Bradley said anyone who would like to support Sheltered Inc. can do so by volunteering, participating in fundraising events, alerting the nonprofit to affordable landlords and affordable housing opportunities and donating at https://givebutter.com/6oi9yw.
“(We’re) continuing to work collectively as a community with the emergency homeless crisis and what the plan was, just asking for, again, additional support and understanding from our community citizens and community leaders, other service providers, understanding that we have to work together to identify a solution to meet the immediate need ... then moving forward ...” Bradley said.
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