Several people showed up at the St. Joseph County Council last night to make a plea for more funding for the Motels4Now program which is at an impasse. Motels4Now houses people who are persistently homeless and also gets them help for problems like addiction and mental illness from Oaklawn. While the program is working toward a permanent new day-intake center to replace the lease with Knight’s Inn, it’s running out of money.
Motels4Now received 1.56 million dollars in funding from the American Rescue Plan, or ARP. That will run out at the end of next month and 875 thousand dollars is needed to operate through 2024.
St. Joe County Auditor Mike Hamann helped with the downtown homeless encampments that led to the creation of Motels4Now and made his plea to the council. “We have taken care of hundreds of individuals. We have saved the lives of hundreds of individuals through this program. I beg of you, to find in your hearts to support this program.”
Not everyone who spoke before the council is in favor of the program. Tina Wilson lives near the Knights Inn where Motels4Now is temporarily located. “I understand that downtown, you know, in the daytime, there's a lot of people, but guess what? I can't go outside of my home without taking a firearm, 'cause sometimes these people approach me. I've had these people camping in my backyard.”
A county council committee will consider ARP funding requests on Feb. 28. The requests could then go to the council on March 14. After that, it would head to commissioners for a vote.
