The YMCA of Central Ohio will transition out of operating Van Buren Emergency Shelter, the largest homeless shelter in Franklin County, by next summer and the Community Shelter Board will seek multiple operators to take over.
YMCA of Central Ohio and the shelter board jointly made the public announcement on Oct. 21.
Tony Collins, president and CEO of YMCA of Central Ohio, told The Dispatch the transition is part of a strategic shift by the YMCA away from focusing on emergency shelter and toward focusing more on homelessness prevention and long-term housing stability. Colins said the YMCA's decision is not a reaction to any past criticism of conditions at the shelter.
The facility, a retrofitted warehouse in South Franklinton that the shelter board
owns and opened in 2014, has long faced criticism about cleanliness and safety from people who pass through there. The shelter houses 520 people nightly on average, including adults and families, in a few large rooms with rows of bunk beds and plastic mats. There are some private family rooms but sometimes the shelter runs out of those and families stay in the larger rooms. In the winter, the number of people staying there can exceed 650, according to the shelter board.
Collins said the YMCA will work with the shelter board to make sure no person who needs the Van Buren shelter experiences a lapse in service. The shelter board will put out a request for proposals for multiple operators to run different parts of the facility. The YMCA will cease being the operator effective June 30, 2027.
The Community Shelter Board, a nonprofit that has coordinated Franklin County's response to homelessness for four decades, and its partners like the YMCA are moving away from housing people in large congregate care settings like Van Buren. But for now, emergency shelters fill a gap for the hundreds of people who are there nightly and have nowhere else to go.
Community Shelter Board CEO Shannon Isom said the Van Buren Emergency Shelter is a reflection of larger economic and political forces that have led to a shortage of deeply affordable housing in Columbus and high rents even in a formerly affordable Midwest city.
"So how long should we have Van Buren? We should have it as long as those two variables stay," Isom said. "When those two variables get fixed, then Van Buren will go away."
Isom said she appreciates the YMCA, which will continue to provide case management services that help individuals and families move from shelter to stable housing.
“For the past 10 years, the YMCA has served our community with extraordinary compassion, benevolence,and dedication," Isom said. "We are grateful for their partnership and the difference they have made in the lives ofthousands of our neighbors."
Collins said the YMCA of Central Ohio, one of the region's largest nonprofits, has a vision to serve one in five people across central Ohio by 2035. The YMCA of Central Ohio has already started work on projects to expand child care access and community center hubs.
“For more than a decade, our partnership with Community Shelter Board has allowed us to walk alongsideindividuals and families during some of their most difficult moments,” Collins said. “As we look toward the future, we're being intentional about how the YMCA can make the greatest long-term impact. This transition allows us to deepen our focus on prevention and housing services to help individuals and families build stability earlier and create stronger pathways from crisis toward prosperity while continuing to work alongside our partners.”
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New operator sought for Franklin County's largest homeless shelter as YMCA steps away
