A homeless shelter that gives critical services in downtown Minneapolis is in dire need of repairs, and its future could also be determined by city politics.

No matter what happens at City Hall, Agate Housing’s 137-bed shelter at 510 S. eighth St. will close not less than temporarily on Oct. 9. That’s a big blow for Minneapolis, which has declared unsheltered homelessness a public health emergency and continues to see higher numbers of unhoused individuals. Meanwhile, shelters across the region have faced limited resources available to compensate for rising demand for services. 

With the transitional housing facility’s fate hanging within the balance, on Sept. 19 the City Council passed a resolution that may reappropriate money from multiple city department surpluses to fund a $1.5 million grant. Contingent to the grant, Agate must secure not less than a further $1.5 million match, which the organization’s leaders say is greater than attainable.

Passage of the resolution was not unanimous: council members Linea Palmisano, Michael Rainville and LaTrisha Vetaw voted no due to concerns over process and where the cash would come from. The naysaying council members said they’d concerns about where the funding for the Agate grant was coming from. Council members spearheading the resolution said the cash would only come from departments which have had a budget surplus for not less than five years. 

It also stays unclear if Mayor Jacob Frey will sign, veto or let the resolution pass without doing either. He has until 4 p.m. Thursday to make your mind up. 

Frey’s administration sent the next statement within the interim because the mayor debates his decision: “Mayor Frey is supportive of the essential work of shelters. The City Council did no vetting of the source of funding before passage and it’s leading to significant problems. The mayor will spend the following day reviewing the appropriation with City staff and material experts before making a call.”

‘A crucial asset’ 

Even when it receives the town’s grant, Agate needs a radical assessment to know the extent of renovation needed, said Virginia Brown, vp of external relations for the nonprofit organization. 

The 100-year-old constructing features a 42-bed shelter and 95-bed “low barrier” housing area. An initial assessment by a construction company conducted a few yr ago found the constructing needed between $3 million and $5 million in renovations.

“What we’ll have to do now could be get a more specific number… In order that’s our next step, to make certain we understand exactly what the complete need is and what else we’ll need to boost, along with the town’s match, to truly have the constructing in working condition and providing a secure and dignified home,” Brown said. “There’s slightly bit to be determined about whether or not we are able to actually reopen, but we’re really optimistic, and the town funds are excellent momentum to point out that they’re identifying this as a vital asset. They’ll hopefully be a pacesetter and others will follow to support.”

Whether or not the worth tag finally ends up closer to $5 million will determine how way more Agate has to boost outside of the match stipulated in the town grant. If the nonprofit can move forward with renovations, Brown said it might likely take 6 to 12 months for the power to reopen. 

The pandemic and its aftermath have posed a heightened challenge for shelters across the Twin Cities, Brown noted. Not only has there been a struggle to take care of funding streams, more individuals are becoming unhoused and straining the region’s existing resources. 

“The price of providing services have increased while the funding we might need through various government agencies has not increased, so increasingly philanthropy has needed to close the gap so as to actually provide all of the services,” Brown said. “That’s a complete effort in and of itself and possibly not a winning effort for everybody. There’s only a lot philanthropy to go around, and it actually advantages the larger organizations with greater names.” 

Brown also desired to make clear an inaccuracy that was brought up through the Thursday, Sept. 19 meeting when the resolution passed. Council member Palmisano said through the meeting that the 510 constructing isn’t a part of Hennepin County’s coordinated entry system, which helps refer unhoused people to numerous shelters. She said reopening the Agate’s 510 in the long run wouldn’t help reduce the variety of unhoused people sleeping outside. 

Brown said that, though the 510 program doesn’t use coordinated entry, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t serve unhoused populations sleeping outside. The 510 constructing and board and lodge program takes referrals from various sources and people referrals include people who find themselves living in encampments. 

Disagreement over process, again

On the Sept. 19 meeting, council Vice President Aisha Chughtai, who chairs the budget and finance committee, said there was a few 17% increase in homelessness in Minneapolis within the Twin Cities metro since this time last yr. This was also reflected in December when Minneapolis declared unsheltered homelessness a public health emergency. 

While all the council agrees that the town’s increasing unhoused population is at an emergency level and desires to be addressed immediately, members don’t agree on process.

In his newsletter following the passage of the Agate resolution, council member Rainville said the budget amendment allowed Agate to bypass the traditional funding process and “jump the road on other housing providers similar to Common Bond, Avivo, and Aeon.

“To assist prevent this practice in the long run, I co-authored a legislative directive with CMs Vetaw and Palmisano to have staff give a presentation outlining the usual process for my colleagues,” he wrote. 

Council members in support of the funding argued that the possible lack of the Agate facility was urgent and needed to be addressed immediately. 

In the course of the Sept. 19 meeting, Chughtai said the Agate grant is definitely cost effective. To completely rebuild a facility like Agate’s, she said it might require an entity willing and in a position to do it and value around $40 million, noting she believed it’s price providing the $1.5 million grant is price avoiding the closure of an already established facility.

This isn’t the primary time the council has been divided over process while budgeting. In July, the council passed a police contract budget that deviated from what the Frey administration proposed. In that case, the change was neither signed nor vetoed by the mayor.

Update: This story has been updated to reflect that the 510 Agate location doesn’t use the county’s coordinated entry program.