Employees are scrambling after a weekend announcement that a homeless shelter will be closing due to lack of funding.
The downtown Minneapolis building at 510 South 8th St has sheltered people experiencing homelessness since the late '70s. Agate Housing and Services has managed operations since 2021, when House of Charity and St. Stephen's Human Services merged.
From the street, the brick structure appears to be intact, but Agate CEO and executive director Kyle Hanson says the more than 100-year-old building needs some serious repairs including a new roof, new windows and new heating and air conditioning systems.
"The need here is urgent," Hanson said. "The pipes are leaking, bathrooms are shut down and not working."
Associate director of supportive housing Kymberly Miller says a crew repaired the bathroom but those repairs didn't hold. She also pointed out slanted flooring, especially on the third floor.
"This is the one that scares me the most because these are all people that live here," Miller said.
Up to 140 people live in the building. Most are Black men freshly out of incarceration. Many residents stay for months through the nonprofit's board and lodge program as they work with Agate to obtain things like an ID card, a job and permanent housing.
Others stay for shorter time periods in the building's emergency shelter.
Both options will end in under 2 months, Hanson says.
"Unfortunately, we have made the really difficult decision that we need to close down operations," he said. "We're already in the middle of a very extreme housing crisis in the city and Hennepin Co. in general and this will certainly exacerbate that situation. We are very concerned about this winter and the loss of what 140 beds would do to the system."
Repairing the building would cost $3-5 million - a bill too big for a small nonprofit, Hanson says.
"It also means that we've had to lay off over 20 employees that have dedicated their life work to helping these folks, so it really is just a heartbreaking experience," he said.
Now, the remaining employees are trying to make housing plans for every individual before the building closes on Oct. 9. At that time, operations will also pause at Agate's Food Centre, which is located about a block away from the shelter, as the nonprofit explores partnership opportunities.
Fortunately, a new Agate shelter is slated to open in South Minneapolis within the next year and a half. That building will use the beds from the downtown facility that's closing, as well as 54 new beds.
Agate will also continue to operate its other downtown shelter within First Covenant Church. Employees are trying to temporarily add beds to that facility until the new southside shelter opens.