COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — Six emergency shelters across Columbus are getting a big chunk of grant money from the city for important repairs and upgrades.
Columbus City Councilmember Melissa Green said that as the housing crisis worsens across central Ohio, this type of funding will be critical to help keep up operations at emergency shelters.
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“Making sure that we don’t just have places for emergency shelter, but that those places are safe and functional for the residents that are going to be using them is incredibly, incredibly important,” Green said.
Almost $1.5 million from the city of Columbus is going to support six emergency shelters.
“We’re seeing a new wave of people who are impoverished. You see upper middle class becoming middle class, middle class becoming impoverished, impoverished becoming homeless,” The Open Shelter Director of Guest Services Sarah Hatchard said.
The Open Shelter is a drop-in shelter for people who are experiencing homelessness.