Lack of funds ends program sheltering the homeless

Yahoo

13-02-2025

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A program that kept 200 central Ohioans from living out in the cold is suddenly shutting down. Funding is so tight that those 200 people will no longer have access to temporary shelter in hotels.
'Hey, we're just like everybody else, you know?' Rheta McConaha said. 'I come from Hilliard, you know, so it's anything can happen.'
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Rheta is from Hilliard; another we spoke with works two jobs. They're about to go back out in the cold, a situation they said is worse now than before they got help from this program.
'I have nowhere to go,' Mary Jo said.
Mary Jo and Juanita lived in the Loyalty Inn for the last two months. It's part of a program the Community Shelter Board (CSB) expanded to get more people out of the cold.
'We made an internal decision to expand using our own resources,' CSB Chief Program Effectiveness Officer Steve Skovensky said.
On Jan. 29, Mary Jo, Juanita and about 200 others received a letter posted to their doors, telling them the program was ending in one week.
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'They have brought a letter saying that since the weather's broke, you know, it's gotten warmer, that, you know, they were closing it down,' McConaha said.
The letter reads, 'Because the severe weather and extreme temperatures have passed' the hotel program is ending. However, if you look at the forecast, next week's temperatures will be 15-20 degrees below normal.
CSB said the hotel program is ending due to funding. The board has $2 million for the usual four warming shelters around the city. This year, CSB spent more than that so more people could get inside.
'We did really have to realize that this would be a short-term kind of gap for people because, you know, again, above and beyond the hoteling, we're already doing,' Skovensky said.
Ten people in the hotel program said they don't feel safe in congregate shelters; it could mean splitting up from their partner or pet or because of a fear of violence.
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'A lot of people have told me they would rather be on the streets in the cold weather,' Heer to Serve volunteer Lydia Robertson said.
CSB and those taking advantage of the program both said it is working – people want to stay, but there just isn't enough money to continue.
'It is a great program. I mean it's a great idea. I think there should be more of this going around,' Blake Hughes said. He was living in a tent in west Columbus before coming to the hotel program.
'First and foremost, these are people's lives, right, and so having been able to provide the hoteling for six weeks, seven weeks, eight weeks has been really important,' Skovensky said. 'But I know folks would wish to continue into that if we had the resources.'
'Just, you know, that's all we're asking for is a chance,' Mary Jo said. 'Everybody deserves that.'
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For those going back to living outside, they won't have the tents and heaters they had before. The city cleared multiple camps in mid-December and most belongings had to be left behind, including what people gathered to stay warm.
There are some expectations — some people with medical conditions are being allowed to stay in the hotels for the time being.
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