“I don’t think it’s an appropriate facility for doing the best for our homeless men in the community,” said Michael Vanderburgh, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Society in Dayton.
Dayton and Montgomery County officials and elected leaders have vowed to find a new shelter provider to avoid any kind of interruption of services.
But at this time it’s unclear whether shelter services in the future will change or remain the same.
Pulling the plug
Next summer (June 30), St. Vincent de Paul Society plans to cease operations at the Gettysburg Gateway Shelter for Men, located at 1921 S. Gettysburg Ave. in southwest Dayton.
The emergency shelter — which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week — opened in 2009 and recently has been housing about 235 men each night.
St. Vincent de Paul also has a shelter for women and children on Apple Street, a mile south of downtown Dayton’s center, that it will continue to run. The shelters generally have more than 250 beds and can serve more people than that if needed.
Vanderburgh said the nonprofit organization can no longer afford to operate the men’s shelter because of inflation, spiraling costs and the loss of emergency COVID relief funding.
He said the organization faced a $1.4 million shortfall in 2024 but received grant funding to make up the difference. He said the nonprofit was facing a similar budget gap in 2025.
Vanderburgh said he believes St. Vincent de Paul in Dayton is in charge of one the larger homeless shelter operations in the nation.
He said most communities have “dispersed” — or scattered site — models for sheltering the homeless.
“You know, it’s a shelter of 50 people here and a shelter of 100 people there,” he said. “There are 200-person shelters out there and there are probably even 300-person shelters out there, but I don’t know of anyone who sheltered 622 people in a night, as one organization.”
This newspaper found examples of homeless shelters with significantly higher bed counts, but it was not immediately clear if they would be an apples-to-apples comparison with St. Vincent’s operations.
Time for something different
St. Vincent de Paul has been the primary provider of homeless shelter services in the Dayton community for a long time, but that’s no longer feasible and it’s time for a change, Vanderburgh said.
He said St. Vincent will help organize and lead community meetings in the next seven months to discuss the best way to serve the local homeless population moving forward.
He said community needs are changing and his top priorities are children and people with severe mental illness or drug and alcohol problems.
Dayton and Montgomery County officials say they were dismayed by St. Vincent de Paul’s decision to cease operations of the men’s shelter but they are determined to find another organization to provide the same kinds of shelter services.
“We are deeply disappointed with St. Vincent de Paul’s decision to close the Gateway Shelter, which has been a critical resource for men since 2009,” said Montgomery County Commissioner and Homeless Solutions Policy Board member Carolyn Rice. “No one should have to sleep on the street. Montgomery County remains committed to ensuring emergency shelter services are available for single men.”
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. said the city will work with all partners to “ensure a seamless transition and uninterrupted services” for the men who depend on the shelter.
Shelter concerns
Vanderburgh said the existing men’s shelter is a former correctional facility and it feels like one.
He said the former workhouse is a long way from the services and places its guests need to visit (5.5 miles from the center of downtown). He said it often takes shelter guests an hour on the bus to get to where they need to go.
Also, he said, it’s in an undesirable location.
“It’s by the wastewater treatment plant, it’s by the town dump,” he said. “It’s a desolate place.”
Vanderburgh said the facility is very expensive to maintain and has significant capital needs. He said some systems have failed and utility costs have skyrocketed.
John Hunter, St. Vincent de Paul Society’s chief of operations, said operating 24/7 means there is constant wear and tear on the Gettysburg Gateway Shelter. He said the facility has substantial day-to-day maintenance needs.
Hunter said it’s hard to know what the future holds for shelter services when St. Vincent de Paul ceases operations.
But he said he believes they will not be the same moving forward.
“In all likelihood, we’re going to have a different model,” he said. “And that model, I hope, is going to reflect the meeting of needs for those who are truly challenged in our communities.”
He said smaller shelters can help operators better serve guests.
“You can be more deliberate in how you are engaging with them,” Hunter said. “Two-hundred and thirty-five people plus — that’s difficult ... We’ve been all over the country and virtually no one is doing that.”
Reba Chenoweth, a public information officer for human service at the Montgomery County Job Center, said right now the plan is to continue operations at the current facility starting on July 1, 2025.
But she said the Homeless Solutions Policy Board is “open to exploring emerging and best practices-related efforts” to try to prevent and end homelessness in Montgomery County.
Montgomery County officials say the county will collaborate with the city of Dayton to identify a new shelter operator to provide for a smooth transition for clients through an open Request for Proposals (RFP) process.
Paul Dorsten, co-chair of the Homeless Solutions Policy Board, said, “These men are our fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, friends and neighbors, each with a unique story that deserves to be acknowledged and a chance to reclaim their dignity and stable housing through compassion, support and access to the resources they need to rebuild their lives.”
About the Author
