City Mission’s short-term funding crisis is subsiding
Mike Tony | Herald-Standard
Above: City Mission-Living Stones Inc. Executive Director Irmi Gaut recently told elected officials that her agency has enough in funding commitments to keep emergency shelters in Fayette County operating through the end of the year and “hopefully” into 2019. Top: Pictured is City Mission-Living Stones Inc., whose administrative offices are located on North Gallatin Avenue in Uniontown.
Mike Tony | Herald-Standard
City Mission-Living Stones Inc. Executive Director Irmi Gaut recently told elected officials that her agency has enough in funding commitments to keep emergency shelters in Fayette County operating through the end of the year and “hopefully” into 2019.
The short-term funding outlook for City Mission-Living Stones, Inc. is looking brighter.
A lack of Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding for the men’s, women’s and family emergency shelters for Uniontown-based City Mission prompted multiple meetings among emergency shelter staff, area lawmakers and other officials in recent months.
But City Mission Executive Director Irmi Gaut reported in a letter to elected officials on Apr. 18 that the agency has enough in funding commitments to keep the shelters operating through the end of the year and “hopefully” into 2019. As a result, Gaut said, City Mission will have the time it needs to seek more permanent funding.
“I will keep you informed as things progress, and we will continue our aggressive fundraising efforts, but at this moment, because of the funding commitments we have received, what was a crisis appears to be resolving,” Gaut wrote.
Gaut learned in January that City Mission’s ESG funding from the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) was slated to expire in mid-March as a result of ESG funding reallocations to the county.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) awarded Fayette County $100,000 in ESG funding for fiscal year 2017, none of which was allocated for emergency shelter operations or essential services.
State Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Uniontown, noted at a homelessness task force meeting last month that although the ESG funding is administered by the DCED, the funding shortage stems from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) deemphasizing emergency shelters in favor of permanent supportive housing.
“The (DCED) is unable to provide as much funding to shelters across the Commonwealth as it has in the past as the federal government has transitioned its funding priorities,” DCED Deputy Communications Director Michael Gerber said in February. “If the department received more funding from the Trump administration, DCED would have the additional resources necessary to fund additional projects like City Mission-Living Stones.”
“What frustrates me is it seems like a political move that some people wanted to do to say that we have less homeless people, because when you get them into a permanent solution, they’re no longer classified as homeless,” Dowling said last month. “That if we just move funding from column A to column C, we don’t have homeless people anymore. And that’s absolutely not true.”
Gaut said last month that her agency was pursuing a multi-year grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation as well as grant funding from organizations including the PNC Foundation and Chevron. She reported that the agency had received $6,450 in donations from area churches, $8,000 from businesses and $5,500 in family-advised funding through Community Foundation of Fayette County. She also noted a $25,000 commitment from the Fayette County Behavioral Health Administration.
In her Apr. 18 letter to elected officials, Gaut indicated that City Mission’s short-term funding stabilization meant that additional homelessness task force meetings to brainstorm funding solutions would be unnecessary from her agency’s perspective.
“There are difficult times, but when people come together to work for a good cause that benefits residents, positive things happen,” said Dowling, who hosted the previous task force meetings and added that future meetings would be held on an as-needed basis rather than monthly as they were in February and March.
City Mission serves approximately 500 homeless people annually, and Gaut said that as of Apr. 18, there were 10 homeless men at the agency’s men’s shelter and six homeless women and three children at the women’s shelter.
“Homelessness in Fayette County is real,” Gaut said.
Gaut has stressed the need for continued emergency shelter operation in Fayette County, noting a two or three-week waiting period for longer-term housing approval for homeless individuals, who may be missing important documentation such as birth certificates and Social Security cards and may have mental health or substance abuse issues to account for.
“The dedication of the management and staff of City Mission-Living Stones is to be lauded for their effort to care for the homeless in Fayette County,” Dowling said. “They have our thanks.”
Fayette County Community Action Agency’s Bridgehouse, a transitional living facility for homeless families, was also hit hard by ESG funding reallocations to the county. Agency officials said last month that Bridgehouse would only be able to remain open through June 30 as a result of the funding reallocations. FCCAA Director of Customer Service Rita Masi said Friday that the agency had nothing new to report on Bridgehouse’s funding situation.
“While homelessness is an ongoing issue, we will continue to monitor the situation as we go forward,” Dowling said.