St. Cloud Advances Plans for New Homeless Shelter Despite Controversy Over Location

(KNSI) — A new low-barrier homeless shelter in St. Cloud is one step closer to becoming a reality after Monday night’s city council meeting.

During the nearly four-and-a-half-hour affair, a public hearing was held on the city entering into a lease with Avivo Village for $39,000 a year for 20 years with a ten-year extension. The council also considered a motion to grant the shelter $750,000 in affordable housing aid funds. The money would be used to construct the 56-room facility on one acre of land near a pond on 1st Street South.

Five people spoke in support, feeling the city needs to do something to address the issue. Fifteen people, mainly representatives from the business community, said they weren’t against the project but felt it was the wrong location, as it is in the heart of a commercial district. The plot is designated as C-5 and allows for a homeless shelter by right, meaning the city could have approved it without public hearings.

The lease was approved in a 5-2 vote with councilmembers George Hontos and Jake Anderson opposing. The allocation of housing aid was approved in a 6-1 vote with Hontos the lone no vote.

KNSI News caught up with Avivo President and CEO Kelly Matter, who was ecstatic with the approval. They would have missed out on a $7.65 million grant they applied for from the state if they didn’t get the thumbs up before a March 31st deadline. They would also not have been considered in the future.

The funds were site-specific, meaning they could only be used for this plan and not held over for a shelter elsewhere.

The group has been around since 1989. Matter described their mission as giving a hand up, not a handout. “We exist to enhance well-being through recovery, that’s substance use and mental health, recovery, and career advancement. We are a licensed post-secondary school. We provide training, and we help thousands of people go to work every year, and ending homelessness. We helped over 1,000 people that have been outside get connected to permanent housing.”

The building will be across the street from St. Cloud Financial Credit Union’s largest branch. Chief Experience Officer Meggan Schwirtz spoke to KNSI News and said the company is slightly perplexed. The credit union wanted to buy that land years ago, but “when St. Cloud Financial Credit Union asked the city specifically for that exact plot of land for a community garden, the city actually turned us down and said [we] were not eligible to have it because of flooding concerns.”

Schwirtz is concerned that the city didn’t want them to put anything there that would attract people because of the danger of someone drowning in the pond. Now, St. Cloud said yes to constructing a $9 million building on the site.

She added if the shelter moves forward, the credit union will honor its commitment to the community to be the partner it can be.

Designers working with Avivio say they plan to put in a special foundation and raise the building two feet to deal with the high water.

If all goes according to plan and schedule, the shelter should open in the first half of 2025.

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