STOCKTON, Calif. — Plans for a county and city-funded multi-million dollar low-barrier homeless shelter in Stockton have been canceled, city documents show.
The low-barrier shelter, which had a price tag of nearly $13 million, promised to bring 125 shelter beds to the city currently facing a shortage of as many as 160 beds for the homeless, according to a city council presentation in June.
During their Tuesday meeting, Stockton city council members will vote to rescind their application for funding from San Joaquin County for the shelter. San Joaquin County was slated to pitch in $8.1 million for the project with the City of Stockton planning to contribute $4.9 million of American Rescue Plan Act Funds.
The project had been in the planning stages since April 2021 after the city received four submissions from agencies who were interested in building and operating the shelter. The city chose the Salvation Army's proposal in June.
"The county had offered the city a grant opportunity which we pursued and had selected through a competitive process, the Salvation Army to produce additional low-barrier shelter beds," Carrie Wright, Stockton's Economic Development Director told ABC10. "We submitted that application to the county and that wasn't something that was approved."
During its initial proposal, the Salvation Army referenced one site on Airport Way they hoped to lease to convert into a low-barrier shelter.
By Aug. 18, the Salvation Army told city officials they were unable to find a property meeting county requirements for the low-barrier shelter.
On Oct. 12, the city and Salvation Army agreed to stop movement on the project, according to city documents.
"I'm very surprised by that, especially with the amount of property that the county owns," said Michael Huber, executive director of the Downtown Stockton Alliance. "But they are adding 200 beds to the homeless shelter now and that's a start. But for people that want more low barrier places to stay, we need a navigation center."
Following Tuesday's meeting, Wright says city staffers will recommend the council issue another Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) which would allow agencies to bid again for the funding to provide more shelter beds.
"We have to basically withdraw the support for Salvation Army's shelter since we couldn't do that without the county's funding," Wright said. "The other thing that we do I think really well is we just keep moving along with new opportunities. So we will issue the NOFA again, and try again."
Wright says the new NOFA will focus on expanding current programs as opposed to opening a new facility.
"We hope that that will be successful," Wright said. "We've got a very flexible and adaptable city staff and homelessness is a high priority, as council has indicated through multiple ways, and we're gonna continue pursuing solutions."
The Salvation Army of Stockton did not respond to a request for comment.
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