A seasonal overnight homeless shelter in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood is receiving a lifeline days before its funding was set to run out.
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In mid-February, The Radical Hospitality Overnight Center (RHOC) was desperately trying to raise enough money to bridge a $77,500 funding gap. Donations collected during several fundraisers, including online crowdfunding, were enough to keep the doors open until March 3.
“It’s just a challenge. Everyday seems like it’s presenting new obstacles,” said Paul Sherlock.
The RHOC board member and de-facto executive director told News 5 that the small organization has not been able to easily identify long-term funding sources. Pandemic-era funds it received in recent years are no longer on the table.
The emergency shelter operates from mid-November to mid-April, providing a warm meal and a place to sleep to people who cannot or will not use traditional shelters.
“I think it’s pretty critical because we’re dealing with a pretty fragile portion of the homeless population,” Sherlock said. “It’s not just about sheltering people. It’s more than that.”
He explained staff and volunteers work to build relationships with RHOC guests and connect them with services.
“At the bare minimum, we’re preventing people from being outside in weather like this,” he said. “And then our main effort is to try to get people moving up and out of their current situation, hopefully into housing, into jobs, into treatment.”
This week, Sherlock was pleased to learn the Cuyahoga County Council approved an amendment to the county’s operating budget to allocate $78,000 to RHOC so it can stay open through the end of the season.
“[There’s a] sense of relief that there’s some funding, a sense of relief that — though I wish it wasn’t so delayed — that at least the county has stepped up and followed through,” he said.
It’s unclear when the money will be available for the center to use, and Sherlock said it may need to solicit bridge funding from individuals, organizations or banks to tide over its services beyond March 3.
Not everyone is celebrating the additional funding. Some neighbors tell News 5 they’ve encountered issues with the guests receiving shelter at RHOC and they worry it could bring more trouble to the neighborhood.
“You’ve got a shelter right here in my backyard. To me, you’re endangering my kids, my grandkids’ life,” said Feliciano Harris.
The grandfather of nine told News 5 he was frustrated the property owner never approached neighbors about creating an overnight shelter. He said he’s had people trespass on his property behind the building, remove things from his shed and cause disturbances throughout the neighborhood.
“They’re going to do whatever to survive. I get that. But still, there’s other shelter houses out on the main street, out of our neighborhood,” Harris said, suggesting the seasonal shelter relocate to a less residential area of the city.
News 5 requested calls for service for RHOC. Since the beginning of the year, Cleveland Police responded 14 times. The majority of the calls were noise complaints for loud music or arguments in the RHOC parking lot. No arrests were made in that time period.
“I can’t speak to what the neighbors have said or responded to. But internally, it’s one thing I have to say is a bright light in all of this, is that the shelter or center has been operating pretty peacefully,” Sherlock said.
He apologized for not doing more community outreach to make neighbors aware of the services being provided.
“I understand where they’re coming from and I wish circumstances would’ve been different,” he said. “We were in a rush to try to get things in order to open and we didn’t take the time to meet with the neighbors to see if we could find some common ground. And I will take that responsibility.”
Sherlock said, when money permits, he would look into creating safety improvements like better lighting and more secure fencing around the property.
“I absolutely want to talk about things with them and see if there is something we can work out, see if we can coexist together,” he said.
Meanwhile, RHOC is hoping to discuss next steps with the County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) while it looks for long-term funding sources. HHS will need to draft a contract for the funding and have it approved by the County Council. The county says there’s no specific timeline for that process.
