Renovated women’s shelter to open as Cuyahoga County could lose 400 beds for homeless

Welcome and opening remarks

The Office of Homeless Services Advisory Board (OHSAB) is an organization created to advise the Office of Homeless Services in the development and implementation of the Community’s Homeless Plan through advocacy, policy review, technical assistance, priority setting, linkages and coordination, provision of financial and other resources, and the continued articulation of the vision of the Community’s Homeless Plan.

Board members present:

LaTonya Murray, Raven Wolfe, Chris Knestrick, Elaine Gimmell, Adriennie Hatten, Christian Anderson, Mike Bernot, Cuyahoga County Council Member Yvonne Conwell, Stephanie Thomas, Chamomile Hendricks, Liam Haggerty, Marcus Harris, Beverly Torres, Beau Hill, Angeline Sulak, Allison Schaefer, Bridget Gill on behalf of Kate Nagel, Eric Milkie, Dennis Morton, Riesha Carlisle, Cleveland Police Lieutenant John Mullin for Commander Ian Mussell, Jacqueline Salter, Ronnie Simms for Edward Abshire, Jane Nichols for Dorivette Nolan, and David Steinmuller for Director of Cleveland’s Department of Community Development Arin Miller-Tait.

Board members not present:

Leah Wallace, Morgan Bloodsmith, Denise Casino, Valeria Strange, Kelli Glenn, Sherri Clancy, Jeanna Davis, Cleveland City Council Member Kris Harsh, RTA Chief of Police Deirdre Jones, and Ohio Rep. Sean Brennan.

Other attendees:

Nicholas Butina, administrator with the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services (OHS), attended, as did Howard Burchman, Allison Gill, Director of OHS LeVine Ross, Akiya James, Sara Krane, Jennifer Harrison, Fred Berry, Anne Face, Lydia Rolden, Nikki Egert, Loh, Samarah McCullough, Amber Joyner, Megan Schneck, Shawna Gurley, Kate Lodge, Angela Dorazio, Katura Pleasant, Latoyka Priester, Rebecca Prather, Chris Kreuger, John Hill, D. Blunt, Angela Glassco, Amanda Larson, Erin Rearden, Yarial Camacho, Nina Rogers, Jacquella Lattimore, Brian Lutz, Danielle Cosgrove, Graceson Grether, Denise Caviness, Katherine Ungar, Jenny Eppich, Richard Greene, Helen Forbes Fields, Rosie Palfy, Christine Palangio, and Prentis Jackson Jr.

Meeting called to order at 9:05 a.m.

The board voted to approve two new members. LaTonya Murray, the chief program officer at FrontLine Service, will fill the board seat representing the Homeless Services Providers Alliance, and Raven Wolfe will fill the seat representing the Ohio Youth Advisory Board. 

HUD deadline for funding approaching

Approval of 2026 Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Project Listing
Howard Burchman, co-founder of Housing Innovations, opened by explaining a lawsuit currently in front of a federal judge in Rhode Island, which argues that new funding conditions for homeless services set by HUD are unlawful. The same judge previously ruled against HUD in a similar case last year.

Burchman said some people involved in that lawsuit think the judge will issue an injunction that might block HUD from moving forward with this year’s competition as they’ve structured it. The case is pending. In the meantime, HUD’s deadline of Aug. 26 for funding requests hasn’t changed, so the county and providers have to keep moving forward as if it will happen on schedule.

Local projects applying

Burchman thanked the volunteers on the NOFO committee that reviews and ranks the local projects, saying this year’s process was more complicated and entailed long meetings. The project list can be seen here.

Big HUD funding changes

Two big changes made this year’s funding competition different than usual, according to Burchman:

1. In past years, almost all the money (90% to 96%) was close to guaranteed for continuum of care programs. This year, only 60% of current funding is guaranteed. That means competition is increased. Tier 1 of the project list is focused on that money.
2. HUD also set aside $1.3 billion nationwide specifically for brand-new projects — but only new transitional housing or “supportive services only” programs (services without actual housing units attached), not renewals of existing programs. This means new projects of that specific type have a much better shot at getting funded this year than they normally would, while some existing renewal projects have to compete harder to keep their funding. Tier 2 of the project list is focused on that money.

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Cuyahoga County projects applying for funding

In its rankings, the committee tried to protect the housing programs that already provide long-term homes for people (called “permanent supportive housing”), Burchman said. But because of how HUD structured this year’s competition, Burchman said, the county is estimated to lose roughly 400 beds once everything is finalized. The new programs HUD is prioritizing come with stricter service requirements for residents (about 20 hours a week of programming) rather than just providing a place to stay. The board has already made policy changes to reflect HUD’s new requirements. 

Board Member Beau Hill asked about expected Tier 2 funding rates and requested a before/after comparison of total capacity; Burchman said it remains to be seen. Another member asked how HUD’s bonus funding is scored and distributed; Burchman said historically it’s based on overall application score, project ranking and services requirements. This year, there is an added emphasis on transitional housing and supportive services.

Jacqueline Salter asked why the county’s YHDP program scored low. An attendee said the low score was attributed to a national performance outcome trend related to that grant, with the project being restructured into three smaller programs going forward. 

A motion to accept the project listing for 2026 passed with several board members abstaining due to their roles as funding recipients.

OHS updates

LeVine Ross, director for the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services

Ross thanked The George Gund Foundation, its president Tony Richardson, and Angela D’Orazio from the Center for Community Solutions for funding several OHS staff and board members to attend the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference in D.C. last week. Attendees participated in workshops with other continuum of care organizations on HUD’s proposed changes and met with congressional staff on Capitol Hill to advocate for continued homeless assistance grants and tenant-based voucher funding.

Shelter update

Award letters have gone out, and shelter providers are submitting budgets. Ross will follow up on contract details by early next week. The goal is to finalize by the first week of August and present to Cuyahoga County Council by Sept. 1. Contract start date would be Nov. 1 if approved by council.

Norma Herr Women’s Center renovations ribbon-cutting
The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Aug. 12 at 10 a.m. Ross said the space will provide a brand new shelter with a new additional building and will serve as a more dignified and appropriate space for women.

An attendee said the next board meeting is Sept. 17.

The meeting adjourned at 10:05 a.m.  

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at cledocumenters@gmail.com with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

These notes are by Documenter Maria Shuckahosee. Audio recorded by Documenter Maya Trempe.

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org  with “Correction Request” in the subject line.