Committee advances $844,143 transfer to fund Caritas surge-shelter and warming-center operations

The committee voted to forward ordinance 20 26 2 04 to council to transfer $844,143 from the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services to fund Caritas surge shelter and warming-center operations during the winter inclement-weather season.

Van Box, homeless operations coordinator for OHS, said Caritas activated surge shelter for 87 nights out of a possible 121 (a 72% activation rate) between Dec. 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, providing 4,877 instances of service and serving 671 unique individuals. To meet demand staff increased the FY27 budget to include funding for up to 70 surge shelter beds for a maximum of 90 days and the contract includes funding for up to 20 warming-center activations serving up to 60 people per activation. Committee members probed activation criteria and capacity; Box said activation requires temperatures under 40 degrees for two or more hours and that IWS (Salvation Army) must meet or exceed 85% capacity before surge activation.