photo by: Shawn Valverde

The Lawrence Community Shelter, 3655 E. 25th St., is pictured on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.

The Lawrence city commission will consider an addendum in funding for the Lawrence Community Shelter to add $756,550 more for the nonprofit, which would go to projects that add more options and programs for the shelter.

In January, the LCS received a total of $2,677,699 in funding from the city, with the money coming from Special Alcohol Funds, City General Funds, and American Rescue Act (ARPA) Funds.

Commissioners will consider under their consent agenda an agreement which would provide the $756,550 in additional funding to help implement three projects: the Pallet 24 project, the Monarch Improvement Project and Amnesty Lockers Project. Of that $756,550, $554,000 would come from ARPA funds and $202,550 from the city’s general fund.

James Chiselom, the executive director of the LCS, told the Journal-World the three projects will not only increase the service capacity of the shelter, but also allow for different types of programming for its guests.

The Pallet 24 project is a plan to add 24 more pallet shelters, which are 64-square-foot prefabricated cabins, on the site behind its main building at 3655 E. 25th St. and would increase the capacity of the shelter from 125 people to 173 if guests double-up at the cabins. The project, which received a special use permit from the City Commission in November, would add the cabins, an office space and two hygiene units. The site plan also set aside space for six additional cabins in the future.

Chiselom said the added privacy of the pallet shelters could be better options for some of the people seeking shelter. Chiselom said he heard some people say the large congregant setting is a reason why they did not seek shelter, so this adds more options for getting people what they need.

Additionally, Chiselom said adding those pallet shelters will help the LCS try to establish a 30-day program for guests. Currently, the shelter offers a 90-day program and a night-by-night program. Chiselom said housing people at a shelter is more expensive than having them in permanent housing, and he hopes a 30-day program could be the right option for some people to find housing of their own.

“The quicker we can remove barriers for people to get them into permanent housing, that’s what we want to do,” Chiselom said.

Along with funding the expansion of beds to the LCS, the extra funding will help cover repairs to units that were damaged at the Monarch Village — a collection of 12 “tiny homes” behind the shelter. Chiselom said some of the units had been damaged because of issues with the ventilation, and some of the units were found to have leaks or mold damage. He said those are currently being repaired and given better ventilation systems to prevent similar damage.

Chiselom said moving forward, the shelter plans to set those units aside for people with “high medical or mental health needs” so they can receive community care and have increased privacy.

The last project that would be covered under the additional funding would be the implementation of amnesty lockers. With those new lockers, Chiselom said that someone who came to the shelter could put belongings that the LCS does not allow in the shelter in the lockers. People could then take their belongings out of those lockers when they leave the shelter.

For example, if a guest came in with a bottle of alcohol — something the LCS prohibits — instead of needing to throw out the bottle, they could instead place their item in the locker and get it when their stay is over. Chiselom said this program could remove a barrier for people seeking shelter.

“That way, we don’t have to exit people for violations of things they don’t want to lose but they don’t have a place to keep them,” Chiselom said.

Since the item is under the city’s consent agenda, it will be considered under one motion unless a commissioner decided to move it out for further discussion.