Shelter House, the only emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Iowa City, is on track to open its winter shelter following a decision to submit a request for proposal, or RFP, from the Johnson County Board of Supervisors.  

Shelter House applied for emergency housing from the supervisors on Sept. 17, but was asked to apply for the RFP after the board disagreed on providing the housing. The board also reached out to the Iowa City City Council to find a solution for emergency funding. 

Though the contract is not yet finalized, Shelter House is moving forward with plans to open its Winter Shelter on Nov. 17, following the request to open early. In previous years, the shelter has opened in December and is open through March.

Christine Hayes, director of development and communications at Shelter House, said the shelter is in the process of hiring and training new employees. 

RELATED: JoCo Board of Supervisors to request funding for Shelter House

Shelter House opened in 1983 and operates out of a 70-bed emergency shelter. The organization also provides over 60 permanent supportive housing units out of four homes and an apartment building. 

Hayes stressed the importance of not just finding room in the shelters for people, but also finding permanent housing. As funding for the shelter continues to dry up, this has become a struggle. 

Hayes said Shelter House has applied for several federal grants that ultimately have not been funded and uncertainty about what the upcoming year will look like financially has been prevalent. 

Based on recent findings from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Shelter House could stand to lose $1.3 million a year, she said. 

“The emergency shelter is an entry point for a lot of people into our services, but we also do have a homelessness prevention program to ideally keep folks out of shelter and keep them in their apartments so they never have to experience the crisis of homelessness. That funding is about to end. Some of it has already ended,” Hayes said. 

Shelter House went to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors for a request of about $100,000 in emergency funding, partially for the winter shelter.

Shelter House initially applied for the money to help stabilize operations and move along with the winter shelter development. The shelter also cited an incident that happened in August, where a man intentionally drove his car through an unhoused encampment near Shelter House, as a reason for the request. 

The supervisors also agreed to speak to the City Council to find a collaborative way to help fund costs for Shelter House. Supervisor Jon Green said he is committed to hearing out any requests brought to the board, especially by organizations that work to support the community. 

“Federal and state are not coming to help us,” Green said, “They’re probably going to throttle back on what they have done historically, and the scope of those cuts is going to be an order of magnitude greater than what we have the capacity to backfill locally.” 

Green also expressed fear and uncertainty over the future of funding for several community-serving organizations, but said he would work with other community leaders to ensure the best outcome possible. 

“I’m scared this is going to be catastrophic,” Green said. “I’m afraid for our local nonprofit ecosystem. I know that the five of us supervisors are all deeply committed to looking for creative solutions to do whatever we could do to support the community. But, at the end of the day, it’s hard enough to work in the absence of the state or the feds. To work in open conflict with them is even more difficult.”

Hayes shared similar concerns over funding and the possibility of losing Shelter House’s permanent supportive housing as a result. This, Hayes said, is the intervention that is proven to end homelessness. 

“Shelter doesn’t end homelessness. Shelter keeps you alive. It keeps you safe, but it is a very different thing from having a home to call your home,” she said. 

Hayes said securing new funding and maintaining current funding are both vital to services in the community, but ensuring the shelter’s permanent supportive housing is able to continue operating is even more important. 

“We’re really in a protection mode, to protect our resources so that we’re able to care for the people in our community,” Hayes said. “We are always looking for opportunities to grow the permanent supportive housing stock in our community.”