2 weeks Ago
SIOUX CITY — Sioux City officials said Thursday they were "blindsided" by the news that The Warming Shelter is likely to close on Oct. 1 due to funding issues and what it's called a lack of support. Councilman Alex Watters made the remarks during a press conference with the city's Neighborhood Services Division which touted the multitude of programs it has for the city's homeless population.
"It is extraordinarily unfortunate what is happening with The Warming Shelter. And it totally took me by surprise," Watters said. "I hadn't had any conversations or heard earlier that they were struggling or that they were planning on closing.
" It costs approximately $725,000 per year to operate the Warming Shelter and the Warming Shelter has a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising $250,000; they've fallen far short of that, with $17,710 contributed as of 1 p.m., Thursday.
At a Wednesday press conference, Warming Shelter Treasurer Joe Twidwell said the organization needs a recurring financial commitment of $500,000 a year from the city and not a one-time $150,000 payment Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore has preliminarily floated. Twidwell also excoriated local leaders and churches for not contributing more to the Warming Shelter which served as many as 152 people on the worst winter day of this past year. Watters rebuffed that notion.
"I thought it was really important to be here today to dispel the notion, this idea, this false narrative that the city is not addressing homelessness, that we are callous or don't feel we have a role to play when it's much to the contrary," Watters said. "I think you've seen the city council step forward over the last few years and say we need to be directing as much resources, as much time, as much staff as we can to combat homelessness." To that point, Sioux City Neighborhood Services Manager Jill Wanderscheid started the press conference off by spotlighting some of the programs her department runs to try and combat homelessness and housing issues.
From Jan. 1, 2024 up to the present, Wanderscheid said the division's has spent $24,668 (mostly staff time) doing homeless street outreach which it intends to ramp up further as winter approaches. Wanderscheid also said Neighborhood Services has worked on grants helping with eviction concerns, ran bus ticket programs and built relationships with landlords to try to get more units for affordable housing.
She put the overall amount Neighborhood Services has spent on rent assistance and direct assistance to those experiencing homelessness at $4.2 million since the start of the year. "We have a lot of resources in this city, it's just a matter of connecting people to those resources," she said.
Moore suggested the city maybe doesn't "sound off enough" about all of the work it does to try and improve the lives of its most vulnerable constituents and said there's an urgency among councilmembers and staff to decide how to best address the impending Warming Shelter closure. "I want our community to come together on this, I don't want us to be divided," Moore said. Moore told those gathered he thought the city was making progress on the $150,000 and the council could have funding the item on its Monday agenda if it's necessary.
"I'm hopeful we'll keep the doors open," Moore said. Were the Warming Shelter to close on Oct. 1, Moore suggested the possibility of an emergency shelter different than what currently exists.
The Journal’s Jared McNett shows how to download and browse the Sioux City Journal's app. Jesse Brothers.
