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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-11-15 TranscriptionPage 1 Council Present: Staff Present: Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Weiner Fruin, Jones, Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling, Hightshoe, Havel, Sovers, Knoche Presentation on Housing First Progress and Opportunities Teague: It is 04:00 PM on November 15th, 2022. And we're gonna get started with the City of Iowa City work session. I wanna welcome all of our councilors and staff back and welcome to everyone in the audience and that is watching online. Wanna make note that our Mayor Pro Tem Alter is online and Councilor John Thomas will not be attending today. We're gonna start with the first agenda item, which is presentation on Housing First Progress and Opportunities. I'll, um, go ahead and just welcome Crissy Canganelli from the Shelter House. Welcome. Canganelli: Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you this afternoon. In the audience, we have Shelter House staff, board members, current and past, and several community champions who have supported our journey along the way. This room has not always been a welcoming space for me. Going back to my first years with Shelter House then Emergency Housing Project, we were neither invited nor welcome to speak on behalf of our organization and the people whom we served. City staff consulted Shelter House staff and chose the information to be relayed on our behalf. Changing that norm was not an easy- easy thing to do. Twenty years ago, it was understood that we were to keep our heads down, although we were sorely under -resourced to speak candidly of our needs and challenges was to risk losing what little we had. We were necessary but barely tolerated. When we proposed building a larger shelter, we were received with disdain and contempt, confronted by opposition from all directions, save our faith partners and individual community members who supported us. Public meetings with audiences that packed this room before City Council, board of adjustments, and planning and zoning commission. The room crackling with frustration, fear, and anger directed at Shelter House, directed at me all because we dared to do better. Years later when we proposed a low -barrier Winter shelter, it was a similar experience while there had been a clear and affirming change within the city and the council. There was still ardent opposition from property owners, although not the same numbers. This room was no war- more welcoming then. These are my memories as I walk into this room. Not of your doing, not of anyone's in this room today, but they are a part of our shared history and learned experience of this community as we begin the conversation this afternoon. We're in a new space with new people, and while not entirely new challenges, they are corning into conflict with new expectations and sensitivities. This evening we're not- we're here to talk about the changes that have occurred within Shelter House. Changes in our approach to services for people experiencing homelessness in our community and the challenges we face today. We're here to provide clarity and to answer your questions. To better understand our current state, we must start at the beginning. Shelter House was founded in 1983 by what was then known as the Ecumenical Council, later known as the Consultation of Religious Communities. The founding purpose was to provide This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 2 emergency shelter with a special focus on persons seeking medical attention and family members accompanying them, a strain that continues to challenge our operations today. CDBG funds were awarded by the city and used to purchase an old house on the north side of Iowa City. With volunteer support, a shelter was opened. It was fire marshal full at 29, providing little more than somewhere to sleep for single adults and families, whether it be a bed, couch, recliner, or mat on the floor. Over time and as resources were added, the volunteer model shifted to pay staff- paid staff. When I joined in 1998, there were a total of 3.75 full-time equivalents, including myself. Not enough people then to do the work that was being done. But nevertheless, the work got done. We've followed the service approach that was prevalent across the nation for homeless shelters. Housing Ready. Housing Ready was the standard if it's singular approach among homeless service providers, Shelter House included for decades. Housing Ready subordinates, access to permanent housing, to other requirements such as sobriety, employment, and med compliance. With the expectation that individuals must address these issues that may have led to their homelessness and essentially earn their way back into housing. The approach was expected and even required of us by our funders, both private and public. It is how we demonstrated accountability to our funders and good stewardship to our community. And it was wrong. Rules around sobriety, employment, and other program requirements meant some of the sickest and most vulnerable among us were vetted out. But this is what we all knew, and it was at the time unchallenged across the nation. Things started to change with the implementation of the Hearth Act in 2009, but these changes were slow to reach Iowa with the first transitions to a new low -barrier approach beginning in 2012. And certainly not in our shelter environments until many years later. From the day I started at emergency housing project, it was clear we had a capacity issue. By 2004 the population of Johnson County had increased by 40 percent since opening in 1983. We denied shelter due to lack of bed space most every night of the year. Structural shifts and changes in the economy welfar- welfare policy changes, erosion of pay and increasing housing cost meant increasing numbers of people seeking shelter across the nation, and yes, here at home. A significant shift of who was experiencing homelessness also occurred, changing from the majority being single adults to more and more families. Locally, the University of Iowa, University of Iowa hospitals and clinics, and VA Medical Center served to amplify our local challenges. The capacity limitations that the Gilbert Street shelter were felt most urgently during the winter months. And while there were livestock warnings advising farmers to get cattle and livestock out from the cold, there were no such warnings or concerns for our neighbors. A larger shelter was needed, but it was clear it would be years in the making. We turn to our founding partners, the faith community, and they leaned in. Spent- standing by our side, faith leaders declared we can and must do better. And together we did. Persisting through all manner of code challenges and required updates to buildings, the winter overflow program opened with about 18 participating churches and hundreds of volunteers. It was intended to be a temporary stopgap until Shelter House was able to build a larger shelter on land we had purchased in 2004. It was a partnership that ran many more years than was expected. Even with the winter overflow, people were vetted out. Background checks and breathalyzer tests were common practice. If you were intoxicated or otherwise deemed unable to stay, you were not getting a cot or a bed. You were not going to stay at Shelter, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 3 or going to overflow. The approach wasn't questioned. Folks remained in their camps or sought shelter and stairwells of parking ramps and on the coldest nights walk the halls of our hospitals or came into City Hall and slept on the lobby floor. We persisted with the Housing Ready model as providers across our state, the region, and throughout the country continued to do. After years of legal opposition, resulting in a precedent -setting - setting decision by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2008, Shelter House finally persevered in the campaign to- to- to develop a new emergency shelter. In November 2010, construction of the 70 -bed shelter at 429 Southgate Avenue was completed and we moved in immediately. The capacity of 70 was not built to meet an actual real demand for shelter countywide. It was restricted by code, limited by parking requirements, and a direct result of the legal opposition to the project. We immediately hit capacity. The winter overflow program through the faith communities had ended with the opening of the new shelter. We were once again in need of additional bed capacity as we went into the winter of 2011. Again with faith partners by our side, we approached the city seeking permission for increased shelter capacity during the winter months. Each winter, since Shelter House seeks and is awarded a special use permit, authorizing an increase of Shelter capacity by an additional 30 sleeping spaces. Overflow is available in the lobby of the Shelter and opens at 10:30 PM for folks above and beyond the base of 70 guests. In 2011, as in the preceding years, the commitment to housing ready approach remained unchallenged. During the winter of 2013 to 2014, the polar vortex hit Iowa. While our ship- our shelter was full, anywhere 10-20 people were seeking shelter and relief from the bit- bitter cold, night after night in the lobby of City Hall. With no bathroom facilities and limited space, there were significant challenges. The Iowa City Police Department approached the Local Homeless Coordinating Board in the spring of 2014 in the hope that a new approach be considered in preparation for the 2014, 2015 winter. The consensus of the local Homeless Coordinating Board was that Shelter House would take the lead in developing a low -barrier shelter to be made available during the winter months, ensuring a warm, dry space for the coldest nights of the year, removing rules and sobriety requirements experienced as barriers by so many people in need. This was the first overt indication of our intention to reduce barriers to services and begin the hard, unnecessary work of shifting to a Housing First approach. This was the beginning of what would prove over time to be a paradigm shift in our approach to homeless services, a shift and change to Housing First. Beyond the first responders and medical providers who saw a low -barrier shelter as a much needed resource and relief to their burden of care. Consideration of opening a low -barrier winter shelter was not a popular proposition. There was not a groundswell of support. At the time it was considered a high-risk, if not radical proposition. A decision that does- a decision that required consideration and discernment even within the Shelter House board. But there was a single voice who challenged, if not us, then who? And if not us, then what do we stand for? And so we did and what we- so we did what we were called to do. Shelter House staff worked with partners including a local developer to secure a vacant commercial space which was donated for the winter. It was in good proximity to the Shelter House- to Shelter House and other services known to be frequented by people in need. Property owners and neighbors oppose the pro- the proposed temporary use of the space and petitioned the City Council. In an indication of the changing times, the temporary use was approved and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 4 Shelter House move forward with the low -barrier winter sel- shelter, which opened in January of 2015. We've operated the winter shelter each year since. Each year we were required to fmd and secure a new location. At no time has there ever been a date by which we could guarantee opening or a date through which we were required to remain open, that is until 2021. Calls for service to the police and ambulance dropped precipitously during the hours of the low -barrier Winter shelter. Our hospitals stopped seeing people in their emergency rooms with exposure and frostbite or burns as they tried to stay warm and their tents. Shelter House began building support for and raising the awareness of the need for a different approach, Housing First, and a new and more permanent solution to homelessness, permanent supportive housing. From 2015 through 2017, there was a very clear difference between the low -barrier winter shelter and the shelter at 429 South Gate Avenue. As at 429 South Gate, we still screened people out based on sobriety. And while we had started reducing barriers in other program areas such as rapidly housing, it wasn't until 2018 that we fully aligned Emergency Shelter and all Shelter Health Services to embrace a Housing First approach. From that point forward, the winter shelter provided additional and much needed Emergency Shelter capacity. But there was no difference m approach between the two shelters. All Emergency Shelter, was low -barrier and continues to be. In January 2019, Shelter House, open Cross Park Place, a permanent supportive housing project providing 24 one - bedroom apartments and a permanent home, if chosen for people for whom homelessness had become a chronic condition. People who had lived on our streets for decades, people with disabling health and mental health conditions. The approach was, and is steadfastly Housing First, we do everything radically possible to help people maintain their housing. In January 2021, winter shelter services moved to a permanent location provided by the county. It is a space built for the intended use with bathroom and laundry facilities. It is a space for which we are deeply grateful. Shelter House has access to the building beginning November 15th and must vacate the property by April 1st. Winter shelter has become a source of confusion and consternation and even outrage in our community. There is no set date that winter shelter is to start, no set date it ends. We've been condemned for not opening on time or too late and closing too early. Last winter when members of the public shared their frustration over what they were framing as our lack of preparedness and failure to open on time, no one stopped to ask if anyone was actually denied shelter due to capacity. I will share tonight as we shared then no one was denied shelter due to a lack of bed capacity last winter, pre or post opening the winter shelter. This year, overflow at 429 Southgate building started on November 10th. It opens edit- as it has in years past at 10:30 PM each night. Winter shelter is a seasonal service. Staffing for the winter shelter was always a challenge. A Shelter House was competing directly with other seasonal employment. The pandemic has so disrupted our employment market that our challenges have become another level. Amplifying this strain is the fact that even though we have increased our pay rates for our frontline staff, we are not able to convey - compete with new and increased employment opportunities from other crisis response service providers that are fully publicly funded. In the past year, we have leaned heavily on a range of recruitment strategies. We've increased wages and benefits, implemented sign -on retentions and shift coverage bonuses. We've reached out to the United Way and faith communities for volunteers. However, the reality is the skills needed to manage our This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 5 work through a Housing First lens is not conducive to general volunteer support. As we prepared to ramp up for winter shelter this year, we went into August with a 45 shift weekly deficit. Meaning we would have 45 uncovered shifts each week across four facilities requiring coverage, three of which require 24-7 staffmg. Today, our deficit is down to 15 open shifts per week with ten of those m Emergency Shelter. The current operating budget, um, we- we'd like to share with you. And on this slide you'll see two different pie charts. The one on the left is the budget for FY22. So our budget for this year. We're on the calendar year for shelter house. And, um, the left pie chart is the emergency shelter budget, operating budget. Um, this total budget in FY22 is about $1.34 million. About $1 million is payroll taxes and benefits. And for the purposes of discussion this evening, we've removed all administrative and fundraising costs that would have been tied as a percentage to the emergency shelter budget. We just wanted to focus on what does this service cost our community with no indirect or admin fundraising costs. This year, the base pay for facility coordinators, the frontline staff working first, second, and third shifts was $15 an hour. A 40 percent increase over the pre -pandemic starting wage. The balance of expenses for- for everything from- are from everything from utilities, gas, electric and water, insurance, property and equipment maintenance and supplies, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, food. So about one million in payroll and about 340,000 and all of these other necessary costs. For the organization, administration and fundraising is about 13 percent of our budget overall. That's from our 2021 990 report. And our total budget for FY22 is 5.25 million. The total operating budget includes everything from emergency shelter, coordinated entry, street outreach, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, supported employment, eviction prevention, administration in fundraising. This does not include capital improvements in debt repayment. So again, on the pie charts, now if we look at the sourcing of emergency shelter, we've tried to break out and look at how we're funding this service. And as you'll see, 16 percent is coming from our local public funders. That's Johnson County, City of Iowa City, North Liberty and Coralville. And, um, the 19 percent is from our local, are state and federal funding sources that are restricted for emergency shelter. So a total of 35 percent of emergency shelter services in our community are publicly resourced. Sixty five percent, that gap, is sourced by private funding, whether it's individual gifts from faith communities, local businesses, fundraising activities, our solicitations and our own endowment. If I broke it out in yet another way, all the dedicated funding sources from our local public funders combined would cover in that 16 percent of our budget 58 days out of the calendar year. If I add in the state and federal sources, it's another 19% or 67 days of the year. I say all this and want to emphasize that we're incredibly grateful for the support that we receive from our local public funders. We couldn't do this work without you. But just trying to start this conversation and contextualized as these shifting changes in expectations have been happening, we're still very heavily privately sourced for this work. Um, and then on the, uh, broader context as well. Just to show that, um, for shelter house, uh, operating budget, uh, five percent of our operating budget is driven by local public funders and 95% is all other funding sources. Further challenging our current budget reality is the fact that shelter house carries substantial debt or for new construction and permanent supportive housing and renovation of existing properties. Once the 501 Southgate Avenue construction project is closed, the total debt is estimated at over five This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Pate 6 million dollars, with rou- roughly half of this sourced by private commercial lender and they are an interest-bearing. Of the total debt, 2.5 million is at zero percent interest with the majority payable of the housing tru- to the housing trust fund of Johnson County, for which we are very grateful for. And Ellen McCabe is here in the audience. We wouldn't be able to do the work that we've done without her support. Our annual debt obligation now is $105,600. Next year, it increases to $240,000. The debt is a deliberate choice incurred singularly by Shelter House building capacity, building capacity and shifting our paradigm for managing homelessness to ending it, developing permanent housing with broad support from our community and public and private stakeholders, developing housing solutions known to save lives, taking on substantial risk to step in and provide housing that wasn't occurring anywhere else in the community. In 1983, there was no public mandate to provide shelter, and there isn't one today. Through the years, the expectations and understandings of our community have changed. There is today a growing social mandate and expectation that all people should be guaranteed access to safe and decent shelter. We agree. In fact, the people you are looking at in the audience here tonight would expand on that expectation and include housing. But we're here tonight to talk about emergency shelter. We're neither built nor resourced to meet this expectation and growing social mandate, We must be resourced differently if we're to keep up with the work we're already doing, let alone to give consideration to increasing our capacity to better respond to whatever crisis next presents itself. We are being consulted by providers across Iowa and neighboring states, communities and providers interested in replicating our work and our approach. We do not need a new passion - passion project or new boutique response. We need you to invest in a proven and steadfast partner at a different level and in a different way. It's one thing to talk about the reality of the work and another thing entirely to hear it described in detail. I've asked Rachel Lehman, Emergency Services Director and Erin Sullivan, Housing Services Director to share their personal experience to illustrate what it is meant for us to embrace a Housing First approach for emergency shelter to permanent housing. Teague: Welcome. Sullivan: Hi. Good afternoon. My name is Erin Sullivan and I'm the Housing Services Director for Shelter House. That means I oversee both short-term and long-term housing interventions for people experiencing homelessness. I also oversee street outreach and employment services. These are vastly different programs with extremes in terms of what they look- the work looks like. To give you a sense of what this looks like from day to day, I will describe a recent day in detail. rube candid. Deciding what day to describe wasn't an easy task. And though everyone says every day is different when describing their jobs, when you work with people in crisis, every day is so different. This day last Thursday is a normal day to the extent that there is such a thing. I wake up at 05:30 A.M. I have 75 minutes personally to walk my dogs, eat breakfast, make my son's lunch, review my schedule for the day, and kind of scroll through social media and get dressed and get ready. Uh, at 6:45 A.M. I wake up my son, I help him make- or I make breakfast. He eats and we pull up the weather app and we look at the weather and we usually have an argument over whether it's too cold for him to wear shorts. It is. Uh, he gets dressed This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 7 and I send him back to his room because he wore the same sweatshirt yesterday. He puts on a clean sweatshirt, brushes his teeth and I do his hair before we leave, he feeds the dogs. At 7:45 A.M., I've dropped my son off at Grant Wood Elementary and I drive to the gym. I lift weights for 30 minutes and then shower and get ready for work at the gym. I then arrive at my office at 501 Southgate Avenue. I make a cup of tea, I log into my computer and I open the software that runs our electronic door system, and manually unlock the 501 admin front door entrance because the system has a glitch that we haven't yet been able to fix. I open my e-mail answer three time -sensitive emails and then check in with staff at the front desk at 501 and/or Cross Park Place. Um, this morning I chat briefly with Allison, who's the coordinator at 501 and then listen to a tenant, as the tenant asked for my attention to talk about a concern about their neighbor. When folks move indoors after experiencing chronic homelessness, having neighbors is a huge adjustment that we help each work through. On days like this Thursday, my first hour is usually my favorite. I get the opportunity to connect with tenants, listen to their stories, and help solve for whatever issues might be arise- might arise. At 9:30 A.M, I attend the coordinated entry meeting with partners from the VA Medical Center, HACAP, Mobile Crisis, Johnson County Social Services, General Assistance, Prelude, Waypoint, the Institute for Community Alliance, Abbe Mental Health Center, DVIP and Uni- United Actions for Youth. Today is, as usual, rapid-fire conversation about VI-SPDAT scores who rise to the top of the list. VI-SPDAT is a numerical score that measures the likelihood that an individual will die on the streets. I don't think about this when I am in this meeting. I pulled two clients for an open unit in our permanent supportive housing or PSH program. One actually signed their lease and moved into housing on Monday afternoon, uh, the second moved into their home today. Both new tenants have experienced homelessness for more than 12 months. At 10:00 AM I log off the Zoom and then I respond some- to some teams messages from a staff member letting me know that we're out of envelopes. And I log into Shelter House's Amazon account to order them. I email the PSH program managers to let them know we had two individuals who were pulled today and they're going to be moving into, uh, one of the open units. And I ask them to enter them into the PSH project in our homeless management integration system - sorry, information system. I send teams messages to see what manager can conduct this morning's interview, uh, with an applicant. Um, and unfortunately no one is available, so I will plan on attending. At 10:20 A.M, our street outreach staff named Sam stops by my office and we problem -solve about emergency shelter guest who was recently hospitalized and then discharged to emergency shelter. The guest does not have their - have a cell phone to receive appointment reminders. So I do everything that I can to help them get to their appointments. Yesterday, I logged into CareLink to check their appointment time and saw that it was today. I messaged Sam yesterday to inform him of the appointment and ask them to reach out to the guest about how they plan to get to their appointment. Sam worked with the guest to make those plans and he just ended up transporting them to UHC for their appointment. The guest asked to see the doctor and then refused any further treatment. Sam is concerned because he knows the client tends to sleep outside when their mental health declines and the weather's turning cold at night. I pull up CareLink saw that the next appointment for this individual at UHC was a full month away and I emailed the RN to get the guest scheduled for an earlier appointment. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 8 At 10:45 A.M, I met with Nicole, who is a Rapid Rehousing Case- program manager, to discuss the remaining funds available to assist with security deposits and rent to individuals moving out of shelter and into apartments. With approximately six weeks left in this year, we plan a strategy that will maximize the limiting remaining funds to support as many households as possible. At 11:30 A.M, I conduct that 30 -minute interview with an applicant for our coordinator position. And then as soon as that meeting's done, the interviews done at 12:00 P.M, I go to the bathroom, I microwave my lunch, and I respond to some more emails and I also make note that I'm going to call that candidate tomorrow morning and offer them the position. Scott, our facility maintenance manager, stops by my office to update me on the progress of a radon tests at one of our lodge houses. He's submitting a report to the city for our rental, uh, permit renewal. Uh, at 12:30 P.M, I met with Mark, our assistant executive director. He- we discussed program manager workloads and assess whether we need to distribute the work more evenly. We reviewed the org chart, discuss the number of shelter house -owned properties each manager oversees, look at the hours of operation for each building, assess the caseload sizes, and redistribute the work accordingly. At 1:30 P.M, I respond to e-mails about the next week psych clinic at emergency shelter about coordinating the agenda for the lunch and learn about W9s and 1099s, and about cross park pla- about a Cross Park Place tenant requesting modifications to their unit. Then at 2:00 P.M, this is not on my schedule unplanned, there's an altercation between three tenants at the 50- at 501. The staff on duty asks for help. Uh, two of the tenants are arguing with their neighbors about having items outside of their apartment, and one tenant pushes the staff member as she works to de- escalate. Disagreeing with neighbors is common. Uh, it is common at all apartments across the city. Um, this particular argument differs because 501 tenants often have complex trauma histories. And the aftermath of this agree- this disagreement created hours of emotional processing. Our afternoon and evening staff members work with the involved tenants who were very concerned that the staff member might have been harmed. They were concerned for her safy- safety. Uh, they were worried that they would go to jail and distraught by the entire argument. Staff reassured them that everyone was okay. They would not be going to jail and talked them through their emotional processing of what had happened. Later, I reviewed video footage to identify what went well and brainstormed ideas on how to handle similar situations in the future. At 3:30 P.M, I quickly transition to a virtual meeting with our IT company to discuss why we didn't have access to the two camera angles. Uh, at 4:15 P.M, I respond to messages from staff to coordinate pick-up for a department credit card to have a vehicle towed, to respond whether I have time to attend a team meeting next week for a tenant and to coordinate with FIR to schedule onboarding for newly hired employees. At 5:00 PM, I left work to pick up my son. While driving, I received a call from Bryson, the 501 Program Manager, who is concerned about a tenant who was hospitalized for the last four months with an - heart infection. The tenant had been receiving IV antibiotics through a PICC line, but he left the rehab center against medical advice and returned to his apartment. I arrived at Grant Wood Elementary and as I sat in the parking lot, Bryson shared his concerns that the tenant who uses substances intravenously might use that PICC line. He can- he is concerned about the tenant's safety. I hang up the phone with Bryson and immediately call Dr. Abrams, who provides the on-site psychiatric services biweekly. Dr. Abrams, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 9 who is also in his car leaving work for the day, decides it is necessary to come to 501, assess the tenant himself, and determine the next steps. I explained to Dr. Amason - Abrams that the tenant is refusing to go to the ED for the PICC line to be removed because he is afraid he'll be forced to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time. Dr. Abram reaches out to an infectious disease physician at UHC about how to manage care for the tenant he was about to go meet with in that tenant's unit. At 5:30 P.M., I walk into Grant Wood and pick up my son. We head home, make dinner, do homework, and read. Once he is asleep, I spend a couple of hours getting caught up on email before I head to bed myself. Teague: Welcome.. Lehman: Thank you. Today is Tuesday. It was not an exceptional Tuesday and it resembled the other six days of the week. Today was filled with difficulties, with immense worry, with sadness, but also relief, hope and joy. What is difficult? A woman with untreated schizophrenia who has experienced homelessness for two years. She has such fear about eating. I'm concerned about her rapid weight loss. A 75 -year-old veteran who has been in and out of the hospital with Stage 4 cancer. He struggles to change his colostomy bag in the shelter each day and no one is around to help him. A woman with untreated schizophrenia who my staff are gravely concerned about because they fear she is a victim of sex trafficking out of a local hotel. A mother with a young infant who has a high fever, who comes to us because she cannot afford fever reducer. A woman with an intellectual disability who has contracted lice. Because she does not understand how to use the lice treatment, I do it for her. A young man who was hit by a car while riding his bike to a job interview. Now he has a brain injury and part of his skull has been removed. He wears a helmet to protect his brain and is severely impaired. These are just some of the things that are difficult on this Tuesday. My work at this stage in my life as director of Emergency Services requires all of me, and so does my wife and our six children. But when I'm here, all of me is here. I supervise over 30 staff, ensure the shelter is running smoothly, direct a volunteer program, manage shelter houses eviction prevention programs, operate coordinated entry for all of Johnson and Washington County. All while I am worrying about opening winter shelter. I have been worrying since July. Facing immense staffmg shortages, much like other employers in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, I am terrified we won't be able to open it when our neighbors and community members need it most in the bitter cold of winter. Interviewing and hiring and training and training and training because it takes a certain kind of person to do this work. And for frontline staff, their Tuesdays are much like mine. I've been in this field long enough to know what happens when folks don't have access to shelter in the winter, people die. And maybe that sounds intense or too much, or maybe it even sounds like an exaggeration, but it isn't. People die because of the cold, because of untreated mental illness, because of co- occurring substance use disorders, because of lack of access to medical care. So I worry. I worry each day we have 20 people seeking shelter and all 70 beds are full. I worry when I receive a call from the school district that a mother and her four children slept under a bridge last night. And our family rooms are full. Thank goodness, a family moved into housing this morning and we could move them in to the room, but I worry. I worry This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 10 because I see the weary looks on my staffs faces. They have been working overtime for several months because they believe in this work and they know how real the staffmg shortages are. I worry because some days I am bone tired when I arrive at my own home and struggle to be present with my own family. But I will tell you this. There is so much joy m this work. When you lose everything you have and end up m a shelter or on the street, the most devastating thing that you lose is hope. And still, every single day, I watch my staff and staff all across the organization walk alongside people on their journey through crisis. It is ultimately a journey of rebuilding hope, of creating stability, of rebuilding light and joy and belief that things could turn out okay, good even. And to see the smile on someone's face when they get their keys, when they sign their lease, land the job, reconnect with family, they make all my worry worth it, every last bit. Because this work is not about me. It's about the people that we serve. And on this Tuesday, I was in our lobby and a person walked in exclaiming, they promoted me, they promoted me. On this Tuesday, I visited- visited someone I've known for years in the hospital. For years, they have experienced homelessness while suffering from untreated, severe, and debilitating mental illness. The last time I saw them, they were so unwell, I thought they were going to die. They couldn't communicate. They couldn't comprehend anything going on around them and had lost everything. And on this Tuesday when I walked on the inpatient unit to visit them, they said, hi Rachel, it is so good to see you, with a smile across their face that I will never forget, not for the rest of my life. So on this Tuesday, I'm here before you to say this. This work is hard. This work is devastating. And this work is worth every second of worry and hardship and exhaustion to help members of this community rebuild their lives. Thank you. Teague: Welcome, Mark. Sertterh: Thank you. Echo again. Thanks for the opportunity. Hopefully this have a little chance for some dialogue tonight, and hopefully this will, um, encourage more dialogue m the future. I'm here to talk a little bit more globally about services than what Erin and Rachel talked about --what happens in one day of- of the life of shelter house employee. Mainly about who we serve, our limitations that we have, and how we prioritize our funds, and even how we communicate. As I'm sure you're aware by listening to those stories that every individual we serve is in crisis or has recently been in crisis. Every last one of them is living in poverty, and every one of them deals with more trauma than anybody in this room could ever imagine. And when people are in crisis, it's helpful or even necessary for them to share their story and- and draw attention to what is happening to them. Talk about their crisis to get their needs met. It's resourceful and canny, and it works sometimes. Even when there's more to a given story than what is either publicly shared or- or sent in an e-mail to you, or on a phone call to city staff, we se- we- we don't respond to that publicly. Why? Because our duty is with the client. You know, there are a lot of missing details in many of the stories that can make, um, the story complete. But our job isn't to- to talk about clients stories in a public setting. We don't do it. Our duty is to the client and we will not correct the record at the instance of- of not protecting client privacy. The reality of the work that we do, though, as you heard Erin and Rachel talking, there is much more need in our community than what we can actually ever provide. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 11 That's no different than any other city in the state of Iowa and there's no other different than probably any city in the country. The way we deal with this is to prioritize our services and to serve people who have the most pressing needs and the highest needs as we talked about, as Crissy talked about with Housing First. We use a process called coordinated entry or coordinated intake for this. We use objective criteria to try to make all of our decisions as equitable as possible and serve the people that have the highest needs. For example, one that happens every day. We have one family room open, as Rachel talked about, as a reality sometime. And there are two families that are seeking shelter. Family one, it's a family that's sleeping and a family of three that is sleeping in their car, and family two as a family of three that is staying in a friend's house. The situation is semi volatile over there, but they don't maybe have to be out until the weekend. So we- we, uh, provide shelter to family one who has more immediate pressing crisis need at that time. So hard decisions to make. And those decisions get made all day, every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is how we make decisions on who we serve, how long we can serve households in all of our programs, whether it's emergency shelter, addiction prevention, rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing. It's also worth noting, excuse me, that we typically always work with federal rules, contracts that all have specific regulations on how we can serve people, how much money we can do, the length of assistance, income requirements, et cetera- et cetera- et cetera as I'm sure you're aware of. You know, for instance, there are some funding streams that allow for six months of assistance for somebody for rental assistance, but they have to be consecutive. And after three months, we had a household recently that talked to their faith community that they're involved and they wanted to get involved and they paid their fourth month rent for them. And then they came to us and said, can you now pay month 5, 6 and 7? We can't because that federal assistance was broken up during that time and we couldn't and that was tough for us to do and to talk to them about. One of our eviction prevention can pay a maximum of six months of arrears at one- at any given time. And when somebody owes arrears more than that, we are unable to pay it. The maximum is six months. And when somebody has nine months, which happened a lot of times, especially when the eviction moratorium were listed- lifted, the amount of arrears that people had, the amount of months, some people who just couldn't help, and those were hard decisions to make. We negotiated with landlords at times, but not all landlords would take partial payment and some people ended up being evicted because of that. It wasn't because of the lack of what we do. We work in federal- federal requirements and contracts that we have to do. I just bring up a few of these examples, um, with the different rules and regulations because we do work diligently to assist all people with a program that will provide the most assistance to them with the- with the least barriers for them to access it. But we are good stewards of the money and we do have decisions we have to make because of that. Unfortunately, that means meeting these stringent regulatory and compliance pieces. So I want to leave you with this though. We're always open for dialogue about situations. Whether it's a specific case that someone has asked you about, whether it's city staff, you as City Council, or more global issues and concerns about systems that may be broken in our community. And there are some. If something doesn't feel right, ask us, we'll be transparent with you. We'll talk to you. I can't promise you that I'll share detailed client information about spe- specific story, but we will talk to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 12 you and we will be open about decisions and why we've made them, because we're very confident that we make them objectively and we do the best we can with the limited access of resources that we- that we have. Teague: Welcome Christine. Hayes: Housing First isn't just a phrase in much the same way that housing is a human right isn't simply a catchy bumper sticker slogan. They're intimately connected. The Housing First model recognizes that housing is the foundation upon which a life can be built. One cannot stabilize without housing, one cannot find employment without housing, and a person most certainly cannot tend to their most critical medical, mental, and physical health conditions without housing. Housing is a stabilizing force, a necessary respite and a genuine and true human right that is not limited to those who can meet a prescribed set of preconditions. Despite expanding services and functionally removing barriers to shelter and housing, shelter house continues to serve adults, children, and families at the same rate from year to year in our emergency shelter. Last year, for example, 16 percent of guests in emergency shelter were children. Now, how do we do this? We do this while honoring the Housing First model because low -barrier is not synonymous with anything goes. Frequently we get asked how could you possibly be low -barrier when there are children on-site? How can you have an individual who is intoxicated? Or using drugs while children are on-site? But the Housing First model is a harm reduction approach that is trauma -informed. It focuses on behaviors, not chemistry. It is a behavior that would limit a person from a shelter, not what they do or do not have in their bodies, whether or not a person is a substance- is currently using a substance. This doesn't just recognize, but it prioritizes the shared humanity of every individual who walks through our doors. Because here's the thing, people in crisis aren't scary. Individuals experiencing homelessness are not dangerous. The adults, children, and families who walked through the door- any of our doors, deserve a safe place to rest every bit as much as you do or as much as I do. And the truth is, this is not easy. Training staff to interact with clients and guests using trauma -informed care takes time, it takes patience, and it takes grit. It costs real money so when we lose staff to turnover, we invest a new in the next person to fill that role each and every time. But it's the ethos of the work we do at Shelter House and this is work that is guided by heart and head. Crissy talked to you about heart and head in giving the history of the work that we have done at shelter since 1983. Erin talked about heart and head in dealing with a crisis in the 501 building earlier last week. And in talking about every day that she's turns on to a coordinated entry call. And here's the word VI-SPDAT at, but you do that work. You do that work as a number even well in your heart you know that number is the difference between life and death. So this is what- this is what we're doing. This is what we're doing each and every day at Shelter House. And this is the work that makes it, um, it's what makes it all worthwhile. It's the heart and it's the head and it's the absolute adherence to the idea and the notion and the belief of everyone in this room that housing is in reality a human right, and the Housing First approach is the only way that we could administer that in good conscience. And we would love to take questions and begin a dialogue to the extent that you all are ready to - to engage or have- have thoughts. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 13 Teague: Thanks to all of you for coming forth and sharing with the Council. I do want to remind us that we do have Mayor Pro Tem Alter, um, that is attending this meeting virtually. And so Mayor Pro Tem, you can certainly chime in whenever you're ready. But Council is up for us to engage in any dialogue that we wish at this time. Taylor: I'd just like to thank each and every one of you, the staff and everybody that's present. I mean, very compelling story and you- you- you're just so passionate about your work. It just brings me to tears and- and- and I know there's a need out there and you're doing what you can and you're working very hard, and that's- that's so apparent. And- and thank you for everything that you do and for coming today to talk to us. Weiner: I have a very not simple question. What do you need the- the City to do, what you need the County to do, what you need the State to do to improve the situation, um, of your funding and of our ability to house people first? Canganelli: You laid it on heavy with that one, Janice. Um, I- I think there's- there's a short-term and then a longer-term conversation that could and should happen. In- in the short-term, um, we need to manage expectations for this winter in and around shelter. And we need your support and understanding and trust that we are doing everything possible to hire up to the levels that we need to safely staff these different buildings, and deliver this- this service, whether it's emergency shelter or housing. Long term, the ability to have a conversation and really lean into this growing social mandate that I mentioned in and around the expectation about the provision of shelter. If this is a growing social mandate that this is a public service, we're not built to support that and respond to that. We agree and believe that it is but we're not funded either in the way to support and- and work to meet that- that need and that demand. So how can we work together to build the resources and make them available in a radically different way- way so that we can respond to that need. If that's the consensus of our community. On the state level, I think again, as there are opportunities locally, there are opportunities at the state level for policy change. There is a very very limited resourcing of emergency shelter in the State of Iowa. Um, finding new sources, increasing the dedicated funding from the, um, real estate transfer tax that goes into the state assistance fund, which is the only resource for state assisted, uh, funding for emergency shelter. Um, I think that there's an opportunity to do that. Now, whether or not there's the public will to do that given the leadership, I think you've got an uphill climb in front of you there, Janice, that I would fully support. Um, and there's interests from other providers across the state. Um, so that's all that I have for now. Harmsen: I'd like to join the other Council members in thanking you and all the members of Shelter House for the work you do. Um, and thank you for this presentation today. Um, giving the extra background on some of the history, urn, the day-to-day life, and also some of the bigger, uh, medium and bigger sized picture, super helpful. Uh, not just for us on the Council, but I think for members of the community who, unless you are there in the moment, you don't understand the complexities of homelessness and people in crisis This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 14 and how many different ways that can be. And I know today we just barely scratched the surface I'm sure of. You know we didn't talk about what a week was like as opposed to a day. And so, uh, just, you know, we're very aware of that I think, um, that as well. Um, one thing too, I don't know, uh, you know this is the City. We're in the middle of going through and almost completing our strategic planning process for the next several years and one thing I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but- but looking at this kind of thing is actually one of the things we have prioritized over the next couple of years. So absolutely, I think this Council is- is saying that- that looking at the ways we can change the model to make it more effective to make these needs is something that we are interested in and- and so much so that we've included that in our strategic plan. So, uh, looking forward to that work, um, in the next year or 2,3, probably ongoing forever really. Uh, one of the things question I had for you, you had mentioned about managing expectations for this winter. I was wondering if you could get into more specifics about that so we actually know what the expectations- reasonable expectations should be and what we can expect, um, you know, that to look like this winter. Canganelli: Yeah. Um, as I mentioned, we've opened the overflow, uh, that, you know, not ideal that it's available at 10:30 at night. Uh, but in order to be able to staff the shelter facility safely, we have to be able to support the 70 guests that are there and then open up the building again for the new 30 additional up to 30 people that would come in additionally. Working on Winter Shelter, we're trying to figure out what is the soonest date that we can make Winter Shelter open and staffed. Whether that starting with just looking at the third shift availability and nights of the week that we can prioritize but not have that be too disruptive or sporadic of a schedule so that it's confusing for the people in need. And then as we're able to, uh, build up to those second shift coverage. Uh, it's the second shift that seems to be really lagging for us right now. And I don't know if there's additional information that Rachel or- or Mark you'd wanna add to that? No. Okay. Harmsen: I was going to say there's just as that sort of develops, uh, the more did that communication coming this way. So we have an idea of that and- and when questions are brought to us, then we can have something to respond to. With more- more concrete would be it would be a huge help. I mean, that would be something I'd be happy to do that to help make sure the public is well-informed as possible. Bergus: I have a few- a few questions. Uh, thank you also for all the work that you've done and the timeline was really striking. The fact that it's been less than a decade, that lowering barriers has been really, I think in Iowa as a concept is if I understood that correctly and that in our community really just in the last four years, that we've been concertedly um, looking to shelter people in that- in that way. So I'm- I'm just kind of contextualizing my question in that extremely rapid and dramatic change in the services, in the- in sort of the model or the orientation of how you're offering those services. Um, and you said in order for us to, us being the community at large, not just the City of Iowa City, but in order for us to meet the needs that we would need to invest differently and at a different level and in a radically, you just said different way. Can you give us some sense of what that might look like compared to what we're doing now? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 15 Canganelli: Yeah. Um, if I um, aim high, it's that we start with a place of what would it take to have a fully publicly funded emergency shelter service available 365 days of the year that meets the capa- that- the needs of the community. Whether that's the combination of the existing 429 shelter and the use and access to what is now a seasonal access expanding that year round, but have that be publicly funded? Um, what would it take to get there if the budget this year you know, I'm sharing is 1.34 million um, with the majority of that being payroll and benefits and those increasing. And again, that does not include any shelter house, admin, or fundraising costs. Just purely looking at emer- emergency shelter. Um, if not 100 percent then what? It feels like 35 percent of a publicly funded service that is being recognized as an essential service and a critical component of our communities crisis response system. At 35 percent publicly funding, funded isn't sustainable with that much unknown and capriciousness being injected to the work that has to be done each year to build the 65 percent gap to cover the cost. Does that make sense? The radically different, what are the different tools, and approaches that can be used to raise that kind of revenue. If there is consensus that there's support to do this, it- it would take a different funding mechanism entirely. Bergus: And you'd mentioned that when the lower barrier shelter started, that you had some good response in terms of how. um, you know, the emergency room, the jail, that kind of thing. We're seeing that. Drop-off and we've seen some of those statistics as far as the cost savings. Can you just talk a little bit about, um, about that element as far as where money is being saved, if we need to raise money- Canganelli: Thank you. Bergus: -for these services. Canganelli: So none of these services have- have gone away. The cost savings are for the individuals that are utilizing the services or their decreased utilization of those services. Our jail is still open, our emergency room is still open. These costs did not go away. So there are the sunk costs of those. Those entities are able to, and especially our medical providers operate. I would argue, more efficiently and effectively as people who are having their basic needs and essential needs met through something like emergency shelter and the ongoing supportive services that we provide and then for those that were able to actually house, is they are not seeking care and service within higher levels of care, emergent healthcare, and then also not exposed to the criminal justice system as they had been before. So the cost savings are from the individuals and their individual cost -savings, if that makes sense. We'll say that we know anecdotally we've not been able to keep up with the data, but we know anecdotally that shelter and the access to shelter reduces exposure to the criminal justice system, reduces calls for service, reduces the charges of, um, a loitering, um, and vagrancy. Um, or excuse me, when somebody I'm missing not remember the term when someone is somewhere there, they're not supposed to be. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 16 Bergus: Trespassing. Canganelli: Thank you. Trespassing. Um, we know that those incidences decrease. Uh, we know from the first years of winter shelter and working with ambulance providers, they were able to look at the hours of service and see precipitous declines in their calls for service as people were not needing to reach out. They were otherwise provide safe space to be. Sometimes those are the reasons that people are reaching out to these higher, um, more emergent care providers. It- it is that they're just not getting their basic needs met. If- if that makes sense. Um, ongoing, we know the folks that we're providing housing for, permanent supportive housing, the care that they're receiving, the integrated clinical services that are on-site in our housing- housing units. People are not engaging with our healthcare providers in the same way. They're- they're not having extended psychiatric inpatient stays, ongoing chronic health care. Um, so we're seeing decreases in their utilization. We've not been able to realize that an increased fmancial support for that work. Bergus: Can I ask one more question. Teague: Absolutely. Bergus: Um, so you'd mentioned the, uh, part of the problem with staffmg up was that there's other publicly funded, um, agencies or entities that maybe can provide, um, higher level of pay, benefits, that kind of thing than you're able to, which you just kinda got me thinking about the interplay of all the different organizations involved in helping those who you help. So can you looking forward and thinking of all these resource needs, can you talk a little bit about opportunities for collaboration and like what we might see in the future for organizations being able to you know, work together and providing all these different arenas of care that you're, uh, kind of jumping into. Canganelli: Well, I think we are coordinating and collaborating in those spaces. Um, there are areas where we end and others pick up in areas where others end and we have to pick up. Being Housing First and low -barrier means that if other entities that were connecting with are not, um, or as other resources, um, diminish and are not available. For example, as our hospital uh, is overextended, uh, emergency room overextended, we know that they are discharging pe- people to the- the streets. Um, that's never been written before. Now, I'm literally the challenges that they're in such a situation that they are literally stating that. So as we've shifted to Housing First and low -barrier, it means that more and more we're vetting people in who otherwise would not have been getting care. Other providers along the continuum have not changed and are not expected to change. They're doing what they're intended to do. They're following through on their purpose and mission. But in the change in shift that's happened in your emergency shelter, in your permanent supportive housing provider as low -barrier, it means that those folks that were left to be free radicals otherwise on the streets of our community should and can have somewhere to go, but for our capacity. Does that make sense? On the comment also, as far as like the ability to further collaborate, I'd say it kind of goes back also to Janice's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 17 comments. Some of these other public entities are funded entities along this continuum of crisis response. They're funded different public resources, state resources, federal resources, but our mental health region supports and funds different services. We have the same person who comes through our doors, we're caring for them in a congregate environment. We are not funded, we are not recognized as a provider. And we get caught in the people we serve once they come through our door in a game of tennis, where the entity in charge of the funding tries to determine if there are crisis was really driven by their homelessness. Because the second it can be determined that their crisis is determined by their homelessness, then they're not eligible for funding. Nothing we do is eligible for the mental health funding in our state. That's a real challenge for us. I was told by someone two years ago when the pandemic was really just rolling out. A mental health provider said to me, did you know that there are a lot of people who are homeless that are suffering with mental illness? I did know. I do know. It is incredibly difficult and I say these things and we share these concerns, not meant as an indictment to our community or an indictment to our partners, but it's because we- we need something to be radically different to do the work that we are here and ready and wanting to do and the work we need to do. Harmsen: One of the things you'd mentioned when you're talking about the history was a shift since the shelter first opened, um, from single individuals to more families. Um, was kind of curious, kind of what that if you have some sort of a ballpark idea of what that breakdown currently is and then just also pulling back the lens a little further? How much do you track, sort of like the precipitating cause for the crisis? Um, you know numbers of people who were living somewhere and their apartment got bought out and the rent went up and they were suddenly through no fault, you know nothing that they did. Joblessness, psychiatric sorts of untreated, psychiatric sorts of things. I'm curious about those kinds of numbers. Canganelli:Yeah. Teague: After you answer that, it will go to Mayor Pro Tem Alter. Canganelli: I'm going to see if Mark is a little- is a lot closer to the data because you're responding. Sertterh: I'll make sure I have the first part of your question. Harmsen: I can go back and redo that. The first part was just sort of the breakdown between, um, you know, how many families are fmding themselves in a situation where they're- they're looking without housing compared to what it used to be and kind of what it's at now. Sertterh: The- the breakdown with that as it used to be, and I say, I've been with the organization almost 11 years, um, and so I certainly can speak for the last 11 years for sure. Um, typically, what we see is, uh, about a third of the people that we serve are families with children, and about two-thirds are single- single adults. And that's been pretty consistent This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 18 all the 11 years that I've been there. And, um, which results in about 150 children, um, that we serve in serving and shelter anywhere between 750-900 people every year. And that's pretty consistent. So, um, we haven't necessarily seen. We see- uh, that's pretty much the breakdown, I guess. I'll answer that with that. Then part 2 of your question was what? Harmsen: Sort of what the- you keep track of sort of like the trends and precipitating factors for homelessness in our community. Sertterh: We do as much as we can. And so what- what we rely on with that, certainly we do, um, you know, intake and exit, um, assessments with folks as they come in as best as we can. Certainly, all intake and exit stuff as best as we can. But the information that we rely on is self-report, and so it's a challenge. So the- so the information that we'll be all giving you is self-report, where it would say that, you know, over 50 percent- 52 percent- around 50 percent every year of folks who come in talk to us about having a disabling condition, whether it's substance issues, mental health issues, chronic health- health condition, et cetera- et cetera- et cetera. That is self-report. I can tell you, I've done an assessment with somebody before where they sat with me and told me that there is basically nothing wrong at all. I don't know why they're there. So finally I asked at the end of this, I ask all the questions and I say, jeez, it sounds like things are going really well with you. Why are you up in an emergency shelter right now to come here? And they say, Oh, actually, the government has planted a chip in my arm, and I've been running across the country to them and I ended up here today, but I can only say two days because then it's when they track me. But that person gets marked on our list of data that I'm sharing with you as not having a disability. I would guess in my professional opinion, that person probably has some sort of untreated mental illness and they probably have for a long time. So then any number that I could give you is going to be well under probably what the actual accurate information is. So I'll share it with that. So you're talking about-, um, that - Harmsen: Thank you for that explanation too, but thank you. Teague: Alright thanks. We'll go to Mayor Pro Tem Alter. Alter: Can you all hear me? Teague: Yes, we can. Alter: Excellent. Um, so I'm echoing what so many have already said about the just sheer doggedness and determination to-, uh, to really get the community to understand this as an essential service and to expand that service, um, is- is tremendous all while dealing with the- what is today, what is this hour looking like. So thank you. My question has to do with sort of the- the short-term, um, scenario of, you know, looking at what- what do we need to do? How well can we manage expectations and actually help perhaps fill in gaps for the winter shelter? And I was curious about, um, what kind of relationships you have, um, with the faith -based community since they were such a strong part of your This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 19 origin stories, and up and- for quite some time, um, until 501 was built, right? Actually, I think I got the address wrong. Sony. Did the shift in- in the policy and approach to low - barrier, um, fundamentally change relationships? Simply because now you really are talking about needing very specialized, um, kind of certain types of volunteers. Or is it possible that, um, a collaboration- continuing collaboration might be possible to find more people through those avenues? Canganelli: Thank you. Uh, so I would say that the relationship and our connection to faith communities has changed over the course of the pandemic as communication just overall has changed. We still are connected and we rely very heavily on their support. Um, as far as volunteers go, we still encourage and, uh, do have and are kind of like bringing back volunteers into our work environment as we've closed out the recovery period to the pandemic and it became more safe to bring the public back in. Um, but with respect to operational -wise and staffmg the shelter, the evening and overnight shifts, whether it's the Winter Shelter or the 429 Shelter, it is the case that going to a low -barrier environment where you do have people who have we know untreated mental illness, substance abuse, active substance abuse, we've got single adults, we've got families. Managing the behavior in that environment does require a certain amount of skill. Managing that environment itself requires a certain amount of ability to respond in the moment, deescalate situations, and the ability just to be present in that space, which isn't always the strength of individuals coming from our general relationships with our faith communities. Our staff have reached out recently to a number of faith communities and talked about the volunteer opportunities and our needs and challenges that we're facing with winter shelter. And after discernment on their part, the individual faith communities have come back and said, this really does not sound something like we can take on with our membership. So I think that that's just the reality. I also would add, and I don't think that Abbey Ferenzi from the GuideLink Center would challenge, that one would not propose staffing the GuideLink Center with volunteers. One would not propose staffing Mobile Crisis with volunteers. I would say that operating an emergency shelter has the chance of creating a more volatile situation because it is a congregate setting. So it's a congregate space where people are living, sleeping, conducting out their lives and not stopping in, or not just there briefly for a couple of days, but a number of days. So as one wouldn't propose having volunteers, staff, or other crisis response system providers, I don't know that we should be asked to even really consider that. Weiner: I'd like to add just one more piece of perspective, which I know you talked about. I'm just not- I'm not sure if the magnitude of it came across, which is when- when- when Shelter House, when you largely put together the funding for Cross Park Place first, it was the first permanent supportive housing in the entire state. And then you managed to do it again for 501, and that shifted a lot- it shifted to permanent help for people, but it also shifted a lot of your staffing. Um, but I think it would be useful to just briefly describe, um, how- how you put together that funding. It actually came together, you brought it very- together very quickly if- if I- if I recall, and the construction was astoundingly fast. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 20 Canganelli: Yeah. Our general contractor and all the subs did an excellent job of staying on our timeline, especially given the, um, disruptions that we faced because of the pandemic, the supply chain disruptions. Um, we did take a particularly aggressive position on bringing 501, um, online and making those housing opportunities available. We have witnessed the power, the transformational impact, the lifesaving impact of permanent supportive housing for the folks that we've been able to serve through Cross Park. We knew that if we waited until we had fully fundraised and secured all the funding needed to bring another 36 units online, more lives- we'd lose more lives. That's not being melodramatic, It's just the reality. So we took that radical step and we moved forward with that campaign, with that construction, um, by securing private commercial funding to augment the funds that have been awarded through the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County, which includes funding from the City of Iowa City and Johnson County, funding from the Iowa Finance Authority. This is National Housing Trust Fund dollars. We were awarded, uh, $300,000 in local home funds, $500,000 in additional home funds from the Iowa Finance Authority. But still we had a little over a two million dollar gap, which we have- um, we have financed through commercial lending. And so that- that is a significant burden for us. It was an understood risk but- and calculated, but we understood it to be necessary. Teague: Thanks to all of the staff of the shelter house, that's here today and all that people that came to support. This is, um, I think in a- a- a moment that I really appreciate seeing all of the support for the work that the Shelter House does. There's a lot to say here, right? You all went through the history. I get it. Um, it's very nice to see, as Councilor Bergus laid out, like this is a short period of time with a lot of changes and the low -barrier shelter, I was happy to hear, uh, that it was illustrated that is more of the focus on the behavior and not the chemistry that's within someone. So I appreciated hearing that. One - and there's so much to talk about here, but I wanted to get the- back to the immediate need. Um, there has been a lot of conversation here and I'm not going to repeat a lot of things. Um, as I see, you talked about the short-term, um, and how do we manage the expectations? We all know that, um, as it was mentioned, people can die in the winter. So that's not being melodramatic, that's a fact. Um, I heard that there was 6 percent or 16 percent of children, um, that was a part of the winter shelter, if I understood correctly. Canganelli: Part of all shelters. Teague: Part of all shelters, yeah. And I'm sure you all, uh, prioritize children where you can, uh, so that they're not left out in the cold. But when we- when I hear that 10:30 PM, the shelter being opened at night, I'm very appreciative for that. I understand the logic behind it. Um, but that is pretty late for people to fmd shelter. Um, so when I think about the, you know, the social mandate that you mentioned, which is within the long term, we have this immediate need that while I understand, you know, the skillful staff that is required, um, for, you know, the services that are provided, I also think that potentially this community has, or I don't think that this is all the shelter house problem for one. I think we- it's been mentioned that unhoused is across the nation. I mean, it's a big deal. Iowa City is a- is a melting pot for the homeless people within our county. Um, and- and even This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 21 throughout the state, you know, on some levels where people come here because it's available, the services are here. So when I think about the, you know, at least the short- term need of the winter shelter. I put it out there that maybe this is something that really needs to have a conversation, uh, amongst the community members that have- that want to be a part of the conversation. I- I really appreciate the work of the shelter house, but I think it's a- it's a bigger conversation that can be had. When I do think about the expert services of staff that are trained, at least my mind goes to imagine that there could be a space for volunteers, um. And- and where it's not fully voluntary because you have to always have some staff that are paid that are fully trained. Um, but I think about some of the hospice support staff, um, you know, they're- they're, hospice specialized staff. But they're is volunteers that come in. They've never really dealt with this before. Maybe there's a little training. Um, but it's hard work. Um, so where my mind goes to is still trying to figure out, you know, how do we get the short-term immediate need for the shelter up and running? Um, because all of us in this room, as you mentioned, we're all about housing and we believe it's a human right. Canganelli: So thank you and thank you for that support. Um, I would say one thing that could be done is to ensure that my organization has the ability to pay people, um, commensurate with the work that they're doing and consistent with other publicly funded crisis response providers. When my staff can walk down the street and get paid $5-7 more an hour, they will leave. It's a reasonable thing to do and go to an environment that is relatively more manageable and, uh, do that. And then we- it- it is a zero-sum game right now with respect to hiring people on. I agree with you that having volunteers in the work environment is a possibility, but not if they're the only person on shift. And that's what we're looking at right now. We need that first lead person on shift before we can talk about bringing other people in to support their work in those volunteer opportunities. And I do just need to add because this is on the public record that people are not coming to our community because of the services that exist here that are so profoundly different or in excess, the perception that there's more services here than there are other places. People do come here because we have the University of Iowa hospitals and clinics, because we have employment opportunities, because we have good schools, because we have a vibrant community, because we are located in proximity and adjacent to two major interstates. These are the drivers that pull people here, not your social service providers. And I just don't want people to conflate those things. Teague: Sure. I just know that they're- we have a lot of people come into Iowa's- Iowa City and the surrounding areas, and so I appreciate that. Um, so I think, you know, at least for me to wrap up my comments, um, what I would suggest is, and it's unfortunate that we didn't have the Johnson County, um, joint entities and that's all the municipalities here to-, um, hear this presentation. Because I feel like all of these communities could benefit from the- from this conversation that the school district, um, all of your cities that are a part of that because Johnson County, they're 11 cities. Canganelli: Yes. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 22 Teague: Uh, within the- within the county. And so I think we all would have benefited from hearing this and I encourage you all to continue to tell your story. Um, I- I would just put it out there that I- I strongly suggest, um, that there is some type of a community opportunity, whether that is, um, I'm not, you know, again, I think the Shelter House. This isn't saying that you all aren't doing- you are doing an excellent job by the way. Your staff very moved by this- by the stories. Um, thank you for coming and sharing that. Um, and I- and I hear the personal sacrifice that you -all are making and the community appreciates that. But I don't want this to be a reflection of- within my comments that the shelter house isn't doing enough because that's not the case. You all are the- you all have provided something in this community. You're the only ones, you know, on some level when it comes down to homelessness. And so, uh, certainly there's individuals that are taken in people in their homes and- and - and helping individuals that are unhoused for some time. But as an organization, you all are the ones that we look towards and we do appreciate that. This is a big- big thing. And I just don't know that the shelter house has to bear this burden alone. We have so many, uh, other providers that might come to the table and offer up some solutions that might just fit the- fit the lock. Canganelli: Thank you. Teague: Any other comments? Weiner: I guess my- my closing comment aside from my heart- really heartfelt thanks, is that, um, I think we are at a crossroads and I think the- the time has come to change the paradigm. And the question is, will we as elected officials, not just in the city but in the county and the cities actually step up to the plate? Teague: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. This is a big topic. I don't know that well ever be able to stop it. But we really appreciate everyone for being here. Um, everyone from the shelter house and everyone that's here to support, um, and standing and say the housing is a human right. And as a community, we do need to figure it out. So thanks to the shelter house, uh, for their presentation today. We're going to continue with our agenda. And the next agenda item is clarification of agenda items. Clarification of Agenda Items Teague: How do I get Mayor Pro Tem. Alter: I am good. Teague: Okay. You'll have to jump in, I can't see your hand anymore.A11 right. Information Packet Discussion (November 3, November 10) Teague: We will move on to information packet discussion. We'll start with November 3rd. And in that information packet IP2 there's a memo uh, about USG having a joint meeting, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 23 with, uh, with the, please come up, yes. We're going to welcome Keaton. Yes, at this time. Zeimet: Also, uh, so the memos about, uh, setting up a meeting, uh, joint session, if you remember, uh, it was held in 2020 with City Council, Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate Student government in the ballroom at the Iowa Memorial Union. And we'd like to bring that back this year and have a date set up sometime in the spring. So if we could explore the possibility of having that sometime. Harmsen: I think that's a great idea. One suggestion I would make is I think it would be beneficial to include COGS into that meeting. Zeimet: Okay. Harmsen: So the- um, just another group of representation for our graduate students. Taylor: Councilor Thomas and I, who's not present today, but, uh, we were both at that me - meeting that was mentioned and I- I have to say it was just such a good experience to hear what was on the minds of- of these student leaders. I was very impressed, uh, they spoke from their hearts and their minds, and- and made very good points. And so I would stress I'm very much in favor of- of meeting and spring would be great, uh, that we all as Council Members, listened to what they're saying, really listen to what they're saying. And- and I think that would be very beneficial to- to us to hear what they have to say. Teague: There are some great things that came out of that meeting as well. I was a part of that meeting uh, in, um was it 2019 or- or, I don't. Weiner: Laura and I were there as well for the last one, so. Bergus: It would have been 2020, early 2020. Teague: Okay. It was 2020. Yes, so we did have staff there. We can figure out internally which of our staff will be present, but is there a date that that has been thrown around by you all that we can consider? Zeimet: There hasn't been a date. We've been aiming for sometime in the spring on- in 2020, it was held in February, but we'd like kind of a later date and the spring, like March, April. That'd be good. Teague: Yeah, um, I don't know there is- if I remember correctly, it was on maybe a Wednesday or Thursday evening. Zeimet: It was held on Tuesday, I believe. Teague: Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 24 Zeimet: Tuesday at 7, but we can for sure work the date regardless. Teague: Yeah. Bergus: Yeah. I think getting through the meat of our budget before then would be great, so that fits with the timing that you're talking about. Teague: So March or April. Zeimet: Great. That works great. Thank you. Teague: All right. And then I just wanna make sure with the councilors is there any, uh, day of the week that they should avoid? I would say Monday and Fridays maybe, but at least a Friday, avoid a Friday. But we would be open to what works for the students, um, unless there's a day of the week that people set. Harmsen: I'm willing to bet most college students would be okay avoiding Friday evenings for a meeting with City officials. Call it a hunch. Teague: Yeah. And then you know, when our meetings are, so all right. Zeimet: All right. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Fruin: I just wanted to clarify. So- so we are- understanding, you just want USG to propose a date to you and then the Council will pick liaisons to attend or are you wanting to attend with the majority of the Council present? Teague: So we attended with all- all of the Council present. Fruin: So an actual joint meeting. Should we target an off Tuesday, is that? Teague: Yes. Fruin: I'm tring to make this a little simpler. Bergus: Sounds good. I think that's a good idea. Zeimet: Okay. Teague: Yes. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 25 Fruin: We- we'll work with you to fmd a Tuesday night, that's a non -council meeting that we can schedule with you. Zeimet: All right. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Any other items from November 3rd, Info packet? Hearing none, we're going to go to November 10th, info packet. Harmsen: Mr. Mayor, I'd like to highlight a couple of things on IPS. And actually it's probably fitting just we were talking about UISG. That's IPS is the looking at some of our legislative priorities. And mostly I just wanted to highlight a a couple of things I was pleased to see in that list, um. One of them being, um, the- their city, joining our voice to UISG's rental property, move -in checklist and asking for that change in Des Moines. Also thank you to, um, grateful to see, and I think that's as we consider this next- our next meeting, the support for the manufactured housing residents rights and adding our cities voice to, um, to those voices, uh, with something I think is a wonderful to see there and I think completely appropriate, especially given. You know our discussion for the first hour -and -a -half of this meeting tonight just really- really under- underscores that. So I'll leave off with that. Alter: If I can just hop in real fast, um, I just wanted to- to Sorry, Shawn, I saw you were looking up into the air as I was talking. Um, I just wanted to- to echo what you were saying, Shawn, and to thank everyone who put together, uh, the legislative priorities, they seem so commonsensical. And I very much appreciate the efforts that, um, to try to bring state and city together to, um, help make our communities better. So we'll see what happens, but, um, this was an incredibly impressive list of what I see is very commonsensical, beneficial measures that really have no downside as far as the State is concerned. So thank you very much for that. Taylor: This one is- excuse me a little hard for me to talk about, but under IP3, the pending work session topics. And I realize it's already an extensive list with very pertinent topics. But in light of recent incidents in the community, I believe that the mental health and well-being of all the persons goes beyond posting the 988 number, which I thank you and the police department for doing what you have to do that and make- make- make that known, and that's a start. But it goes much deeper than that and I've been in contact with some local mental health practitioners who are more than willing to do a presentation to us. And especially after hearing what we've heard about the homeless folks, I- I- they would come and talk to us regarding mental health and- and perhaps suicide prevention and signs to recognize and those kinds of things. Because I would propose that we add that as a work session topic. And the sooner the better. I don't know if there are three other council members that would agree with me on that. Okay. I see Janice is nodding and Laura. Alter: Megan says yes also. Taylor: Okay. Thank you Megan. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 26 Fruin: Is there- do you want to target a date or just placed that on the list of future work sessions. Teague: So it sounds like we need to just, uh, prioritize. Taylor: Prioritize it on the list. Teague: On- as far- as soon as we can, yes. Taylor: If you've got some already scheduled, Geoff, um, I- I can understand that, but to get it in there soon as we can, before even February. Because the winter months, I think seem to be hard times for most folks and hearing from the homeless shelter folks, that is a rough time for people. Fruin: Are you looking for a presentation on the 988 and related crisis services, or is this bigger than community and you want, um, someone from the mental health region or a local provider, all of the above? Taylor: Kind of all of the above. I like I said, I've been in contact with some folks that particularly do suicide prevention and, uh, they were more than willing, uh, to come. So the mental health, the state of the city, what they see as the state of the mental health in our community and what we as council members could do, what the community could do to recognize signs and- and to help help folks just for their well-being. Weiner: I- I wanted to go back briefly to the- the legislative priorities and just point out the- the one, um, the one of the Climate Action pieces that would make a lot of sense, which is- is changing the legislative structures so that you could, um, allow investor-owned utilities to implement the community solar, um, which could make a big difference for some, and not just in this community, but many others. University of Iowa Student Government (USG) Updates Teague: All right. Any other items? We're going to get an- a update from USG. We're going to welcome Keaton and Noah. LeFevre: Good evening, council. All right. So first up we had the Board of Regents meeting. This past week, we had several, uh, executive cabinet members attend a meeting with the Board of Regents in Council Bluffs. Uh, during the meeting, they talked about campus safety matters and safety matters at all levels. And this also came with an approval for the West Campus Recreation fields being improved, uh, for 5.8 million dollar, uh, deal to renovate the University's West Campus Recreation fields. The renovation is expected to take place, uh, hopefully by spring 2023. Zeimet: And then we also have the University of Iowa Rape Victim Advocacy Program create a support group to help people using- by using art. And it's called the healing through art. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022. Page 27 And the support group teaches coping and healing methods to those experiencing difficulty through art. thank you. Council Updates on Assigned Boards, Commissions, and Committees: Teague: Thank you both. Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Weiner: There was ICAD meeting last Friday, um, moving forward with discussions on this proposed merger with the- with the business council here. I always forget what their name is. Fruin: Partnership. Weiner: Business partnership. Thank you. Teague: Mayor Pro Tem Alter, any updates? Hearing none, we will adjourn until 06:00 p.m. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 15, 2022.