Logan County Board takes a second look at funding for Hope of Fifth

 

[June 18, 2024] 

The Logan County Board will meet for its June voting session tonight (Tuesday, June 18th) in the second-floor courtroom at the Logan County Courthouse. On the agenda is a motion to donate $100,000 to Hope on Fifth for the continuation of construction and refurbishing the facility. The board has the right to table a vote if they feel they are not prepared to make an informed decision, and this could be the case at this month’s meeting.

During the Board Workshop meeting held on Wednesday, June 12th, the board members spoke favorably about voting on the motion to donate $100,000 providing they were given more specific information about what the funding would be used for and a concrete signed lease agreement from Carle Health Care for a portion of the building.

Those in attendance for the Workshop meeting included Emily Davenport, Michael DeRoss , Joseph Kuhlman, Keenan Leesman, Dale Nelson, Gil Turner, and Jim Wessbecher.

After spending nearly one hour hearing from and speaking with Kim Turner from Regional Housing and Supportive Services, the organization that is managing Hope of Fifth, the board felt they were better informed than they had been but still had just a few questions.

After the lengthy discussion Board Chairman Emily Davenport commented that the board had taken some criticism for not awarding the $200,000 request at the May voting session. However, she felt that the board has a responsibility to administer funding with the full knowledge of what the money would be used for, and she, for one, had not felt she had that knowledge.

Other board members had expressed similar feelings. It was commented that up until hearing from Turner, there had been an understanding that Hope on Fifth was a place for veterans exclusively. However, Turner clarified that the facility will address the needs of many at risk individuals and families, not just veterans.

During the meeting, Turner fielded several questions from the board.

There were questions about the agreement with Carle Clinic and the stipulations on building out the space that the organization would need.

Turner said that Carle is currently located in a building on the old Lincoln Christian University campus, but they are being asked to move and time is running out for them. Therefore, they are anxious to make a commitment, but there have been issues. She said that the broadband service that is already at Hope on Fifth is not the service that Carle has been using. There needs to be an additional service provided to accommodate Carle. There are also electrical needs that need to be addressed. In addition, all these changes have to meet the approval of Carle health Care administration before they can be done.

In regard to the costs that will be incurred in the build out, Turner said the program that is coming to Hope of Fifth was a recent acquisition of Carle and has to be worked into the overall budget. She said that like many health care organizations, Carle is struggling a bit. Therefore, the reimbursement for the build out and special accommodations are going to be distributed over the next five years in the Carle lease agreement. Therefore, the RHSS will recoup that money over time.

Board Member Micheal DeRoss asked if RHSS or Carle have sought funding for the project through the Carle Foundation. He said that like Lincoln Memorial, Carle has a not-for-profit foundation that is used to fund special projects and programs. Turner said RHSS has not sought funding through Carle Foundation.

There was another question from DeRoss about what Carle is bringing to the facility as far as services are concerned. Turner said that this will be the substance abuse arm of the healthcare network. DeRoss expressed concern about the proximity to local schools in that case.

In the presentation made in May, there was a line item for furniture. The question was posed, did Lincoln College leave anything behind that was usable. Turner said yes it did, and she felt that there was not going to be a need for a great deal of furniture in order to get the facility up and running.

Turner said RHSS has received grant funding through the Illinois Veterans Administration. The grant can be applied for annually and the group will be making a new application at the first of the year.

The money received thus far through that grant is based on money already expended. The RHSS reports expenses paid and receives reimbursement quarterly. She said that the RHSS had committed $137,000 to the building project, and $100,000 of that amount was subject to reimbursement.

There were also questions about the future plans of the Salvation Army. Would the current veteran homeless program in Lincoln be moved from the Keest Center to Hope of Fifth. Turner said she thought not. She told the board that the Salvation Army is considering doing away with the veteran program because the veterans are saying that there is nothing in Lincoln that can help them move forward.

What the Salvation Army is proposing is to utilize Hope of Fifth for emergency sheltering. This would be for displaced families who are out of their homes due to catastrophes such as storm damage or fire.

There were more questions about the deal with Carle. As the conversations had progressed it became less apparent that the Carle contract was solid. Davenport had asked about it and Borad Member Keenan Leesman asked if the construction for the Carl build out was still going on or had it stopped. Turner said that the construction for the build out was not going on and would not resume until the RHSS has a firm commitment from Carle.

There had been questions about a business plan for Hope on Fifth and a question as to whether or not the RHSS thought it could be profitable. Board Member Gil Turner commented that it should not be expected that Hope of Fifth would ever be profitable. He said the primary question to the board is “How much do we want to help.”

DeRoss said one of the issues he was having was that it felt like there were a number of services that were “flying under the veteran flag” that were not veteran related. He said it isn’t the first time he has seen such a thing, but he didn’t like seeing it at all.

Kim Turner said that she felt it has always been transparent that there were going to be a number of services in the building, including but not limited to veteran services.

Speaking on revenue sources, Turner said RHSS is always looking for grants, plus there will be the income from Carle if it can get in, and the emergency shelter program through the Salvation Army provides funding for motel stays, and it is reasonable to expect that Hope on Fifth would get the same funding. Turner said the RHSS will also do fundraising.

That brought up the question as to whether or not the program would then be taking business away from local motels. The answer was not really, because for the most part the motels don’t want to be emergency shelters. And there are times when there are no rooms available for the service.

Board member Jim Wessbecher asked about the Salvation Army relocating its food and clothing pantries to Hope of Fifth. If they did so, would they then have to have a lease. Turner said yes, the SA would lease the space it occupied.

Throughout the conversation the board was looking at a document that had been provided by Joe Schaler in May. Turner on the other hand was referring to a document that the RHSS had prepared since that May vote. The document Turner had was supposed to have been included in the board packet but had not made it there. It was Leesman who came to realize that what he was looking at was not what Turner was speaking of.

That cleared some of the confusion the board was having in following along, and all agreed they needed to have a copy of the document Turner had intended for them to have.

As the group started to wind down on the conversation Davenport said that she believed that it had been a good thing for the board to question some of the gray areas at last month’s vote. She said that the belief that Hope of Fifth was for veterans only may have come from the idea that it was the Central Illinois Veterans Commission that sought the funding last year. She said she didn’t quite understand what had happened to the money the county gave the CIVC. The answer was that the CIVC had purchased the building from Lincoln College, then signed it over to the RHSS after it was formed. The balance of the $200,000 was then given to the RHSS to begin its work on the interior of the building.

The board talked about seeing the project laid out in phases and Lessman said he would like to see that with specifics as to what is completed and what is yet to be done. Turner said she could provide more information if needed.

There were also discussions on the kitchen area of the building which has been completely remodeled. RHSS board member Lori Jackson said that Heartland College is looking at utilizing the kitchen during the school year for some of its culinary classes. There are also caterers who are interested in the kitchen for large volume food prep. She said that would also generate revenue.

Leesman asked if the kitchen was going to be used by RHSS as part of its services. Turner said eventually yes, but right at the beginning no. He then asked if that meant the offering for emergency shelter would then be only a bed. Turner said there would be a sack lunch program to start, and that there would be care packages given out that would include toiletries and other necessary items. She added that rooms would have small kitchenettes with a microwave and a refrigerator. She said that some of the clientele coming in for shelter would be SNAP food stamp recipients, so they would have the ability to purchase food.

Wessbecher asked if there was a timeline for Carle to commit to the lease. Turner said Carle is working in a time crunch because they need to move out of the building they are in now. RHSS has all the documents ready for them to sign, Carle just has to commit.

DeRoss said he would like to see the RHSS “reduce to writing the immediate plan.” He said that the board must be accountable to the taxpayers of Logan County, and to be accountable the board needs to know what the immediate plan is and where the money will be used. RHSS Board member Patti Schonauer said the RHSS could provide that information by the voting session meeting of the board.

Nelson asked if the board could put something on the agenda for the June 18th meeting. He said that it could be a motion to award the money contingent upon a signed lease from Carle and the receipt of the additional documentation that had been asked for at the Wednesday meeting.

In the end the board agreed that there could be an item on the agenda.

[Nila Smith]