Loveland churches consider winter shelter; no sign-ups yet, chair says

Loveland churches are discussing a plan to provide shelter on dangerous winter nights, but the city’s homelessness transition committee has not secured any church sign-ups yet, its chair told the City Council on Oct. 20.

Nine churches and Serve 68 have discussed restarting the service, which churches stopped offering while the city provided it, the chair said. On dangerous-weather nights, churches would rotate shelter duty, with each taking a turn. Serve 68 would coordinate and supply the churches rather than host shelter, the chair said; sheltering would take place at Loveland churches.

The chair said churches previously raised zoning concerns and have since heard from the city attorney about their options. Religious institutions may provide community-based shelter if they meet basic requirements such as portable toilets and security, the city attorney said. City funding is not required, the attorney said. Past property damage has made some churches wary of resuming shelter, and they might seek city assistance, the mayor said.

The committee’s progress report recommends finding city grant funding for a qualified nonprofit and a church to provide shelter on dangerous winter nights. Churches were not asking for money yet, but a committee member had since told the chair they might want help with security, the chair said. The mayor wanted grants investigated before spending the remaining city money, saying, “we have critical services that we’re underfunding.” Councilor Caitlin Wyrick supported grants but wanted the city able to fill a shelter funding gap if shelter arrangements were not ready when cold weather arrived.

The chair estimated shelter could cost about $300 a night, citing a need for two people awake overnight for insurance and liability purposes and possible cleanup costs. The city manager described the $362,000 balance in the city’s Emergency Response Operations and Cleanup project as nonrecurring money that might also be needed for future encampment cleanups. Using it for shelter would require no new appropriation and would not affect reserves or the unassigned fund balance, the manager said. The manager said he could contact churches, determine costs and use the money administratively, consulting the council if the amount was significant.