Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a grant agreement with the Community Shelter Board to provide programmatic support for people experiencing homelessness who have COVID-19, or have been exposed, and to operate social distancing shelters. The agreement will cover costs from March 1, 2020, to December 30, 2020. The total amount of this grant is $1,000,000.00 and will be funded from CARES Act funds.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unforeseen needs among Columbus and Franklin County residents. In addition, human service agencies working to meet those needs have been impacted by both revenue losses and unforeseen and unbudgeted costs. The Community Shelter Board is one of those agencies. These CARES Act funds will be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) among individuals and families who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness and to support additional homeless assistance and homelessness prevention activities to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
The Community Shelter Board (CSB), a non-profit organization, has been selected because of their history with the city and the homeless service community in the funding and coordination of services to homeless individuals and families, as well as, their established administrative procedures to effectively and efficiently implement such services.
The Community Shelter Board (CSB) will work with its partners to continue to operate existing emergency shelters, a shelter for isolation and quarantine to care for people experiencing homelessness who have COVID-19 or have been exposed, and to operate social distancing shelters.
The services included in this agreement cannot be provided by existing city employees because these services are beyond the City’s current staffing capacity to provide.
Emergency Designation: Emergency legislation is requested in order to encumber funds in a timely manner so ...
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