'We feel we have no choice': Battle Creek Shelter to close May 31 due to lack of funding

BATTLE CREEK — The Battle Creek Shelter will close its doors at the end of the month due to a lack of sustainable funding, its board of directors announced Wednesday.

The shelter at 209 E. Michigan Ave. will cease operations as of May 31, according to the board.

“It is with heavy hearts that we make this momentous decision,” Todd McDonald, chair of the BCS Board of Directors, said in a statement. “We have spent much time and effort working to find sustainable sources of funding for this much needed shelter. Unfortunately, although government and philanthropic funding for housing increased in recent years, funds designated for shelter services did not. We have explored and exhausted numerous avenues for operational support, but those efforts were not ultimately successful.”

The shelter was launched in September 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic after local leaders requested a solution for the unsheltered population. A group of individuals and organizations teamed up to create the Battle Creek Shelter to address the growing needs of adults in the Battle Creek area who don’t have housing.

“We will work diligently over the next month with local partners to develop solutions for the shelter’s current patrons,” McDonald said.

Last year, the BCS Board of Directors developed a transition plan for the facility as it took several steps to achieve independence as a nonprofit, reduce expenses and move out of the start-up phase that had been supported financially and operationally by the Battle Creek Community Foundation since its inception. That arrangement came to an end in December 2023.

“We are grateful for the donations and grants from the Battle Creek Community Foundation, from individuals and from other organizations who helped us keep the doors open,” Kim Brubaker, current vice chair and founding chair of the BCS Board of Directors, said. “However, with no additional funds identified or forthcoming to continue operations, we feel we have no choice but to close.”

Board members said they will determine what to do with the facility on East Michigan Avenue following the closure.

In January 2024, the board entered into a short-term management services agreement with Kingdom Builders Worldwide, which assumed day-to-day operational control over the shelter. That agreement, which continues through May 31, allowed the shelter to remain open during the winter months, when many unsheltered people face their most arduous health and safety challenges.

In its three-and-a-half years of existence, the Battle Creek Shelter provided a variety of services, including safe overnight housing, meals, clothing, showers, case management and supplies to hundreds of people. In 2023 alone, the shelter provided overnight shelter to 410 people — including 113 women and 39 military veterans — and served more than 19,000 meals.

Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Creek Shelter to close as of May 31