City & Government, Springfield

Warming shelter OK’d

St. Vincent de Paul will take over the Memorial Building for the fourth winter, allowing unhoused people in the area a warm place to sleep at night.

SPRINGFIELD – St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) will provide a warming shelter for Springfield’s unhoused population again this winter thanks to the Springfield Economic Development Agency (SEDA)’s rubber stamp of approval.

Like city council on Oct. 16, SEDA unanimously approved the short-term lease of the Memorial Building at 765 A St., which is a SEDA-owned property, for SVdP to use for its fourth year this past Monday, Oct. 23.

Based on feedback from city council, SVdP prepared a mitigation plan which outlines outreach to the surrounding neighborhood and businesses.

While the whole board was eager to approve the lease, some mentioned that a more permanent solution was necessary for the Springfield community.

“This is a band-aid, but we need the band-aid. I support it,” councilor Steve Moe said.

Tim Black, SVdP emergency response coordinator, said SVdP feels very fortunate that SEDA and the City continue to allow SVdP to use the Memorial Building as a warming shelter once the temperatures go below 30º Fahrenheit – and he said SVdP will never take the City or SEDA’s support for granted.

“Every year we think it’s our last year in the building because we understand that they’ve got future plans for that space, and lucky us, it seems like that process of whatever the long term use is taking longer, and that works out well for us,” Black said.

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