With Springfield Mayor Rob Rue absent, the emergency ordinance would have required all four other commission members’ approval. Commissioner Tracey Tackett voted no on the measure, saying she needed more information on the efforts of the city and the county working together to address homelessness issues.
It was not immediately clear if the news will lead the shelter to close for any length of time. Homefull officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
City Commission’s next scheduled meeting was to be Aug. 13, but on Thursday afternoon, the city announced that commission would hold a special meeting for “general purposes” at 4:15 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5 in the Forum at City Hall.
Homefull works with homeless people to fill needs rooted in housing, health, food access, employment and more. It’s headquartered in Dayton, where it recently began work on a $50 million project.
According to the proposed agreement, Homefull would be expected to serve about 450 “unduplicated” low- to moderate-income clients in 12 months.
The city had been considering Homefull’s application for services for several weeks. According to a document requesting emergency action, the action would be justified “so as to continue operations of the shelter without interruption of reimbursement for shelter operations and supportive services.”
City Manager Bryan Heck said during the meeting that recent meetings that have involved Homefull, Springfield-based nonprofit Sheltered Inc. and OIC of Clark County on future collaborations have been promising. He said that Homefull was the only agency to submit a proposal.
Sheltered Inc. was previously considered by the city as the agency to oversee functions at the location, but the project went to Homefull last year due to “financial issues” Sheltered faced in the aftermath of a county contract cancellation, Heck said during a city commission meeting last year.
Sheltered Inc. currently operates emergency shelters for both individuals and families, but is closed for 12 hours each day following financial challenges.
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