Chicago Homeless Shelter Gets Reprieve Under State Budget Deal -- For Now
(CBS) -- The state's last-minute "stopgap" budget has given the homeless shelter at The People's Church in Uptown a lifeline, for now.
Richard Ducatenzeiler with North Side Housing and Supportive Services says it's been an emotional rollercoaster for his staff the last few days.
"Wednesday afternoon we had a tough meeting. We had to be prepared to close end of July. We told staff there may be layoffs, then Thursday night we got the call about the budget and we were happy and excited," he tells WBBM's Lisa Fielding.
The temporary budget funds means they have the funds to keep the doors open but Ducatenzeiler isn't sure for how long.
"In six months we may find ourselves in the same position that we were in the last couple of months, the last few days, so what happens now? We need to let our lawmakers know how much we need these services in Uptown."
The shelter houses about 72 people each day and provides three meals a day. It costs about $35,000 per month to run the shelter.
The city has been fronting the money the state earmarks for these services, but the contract ended the last day of June. The temporary state budget means they'll have funding until the end of the year.
The Shelter at the People's Church in Uptown says they have spent all their emergency funds during the budget standoff and will be forced to close, maybe even with the stopgap budget in place.
