Around two dozen stakeholders gathered Wednesday evening at City Hall to discuss possible uses for a federal grant.
By the end of the hour and a half long session, Neighborhood Supervisor Rachel Senzee said the discussion ultimately led back to the city’s housing issue.
“It sounds like all things housing, all things from across the continuum from homelessness to home ownership, is what we’re looking at here,” she said.
Senzee and Neighborhood Services Specialist Anne Stratman led a discussion on the results of the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Consolidated Plan survey meant to guide the city’s use of funds from 2024-29. Jefferson City was established as an entitlement community in 2004, according to the presentation, which allowed the city to receive an annual grant based on congress’s approval of the federal budget. The 2023 grant allotment from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development amounts to $268,051.
The plan was initiated to assess community development needs, including affordable housing, and to serve as a framework for identifying other priorities. Activities are required to focus on one of several objectives: benefits to low- to moderate-income residents, elimination of slums or blight, or addressing an urgent health and safety need.
The survey focused in on six large areas with numerous subcategories underneath them: acquisition and disposition, public facilities, public infrastructure, public services, housing, and economic development. It was open for around a month and closed on Jan. 27.
Of 91 people who took the survey, 61 identified themselves as residents. Twelve of the survey respondents were business owners, nine were services providers, seven were housing providers and 10 were local, state or federal employees.
Residents were asked for the top five priorities they wanted to see accomplished during the next five years. One priority, homeless facilities, took the top spot by a wide margin with 42, with street improvements taking the second spot at 33. Child care centers received 30 points, new housing constriction received 24 and clearance or demolition of buildings rounded out the top five with 20.
The meeting was meant to give staff direction moving forward, with much of Wednesday’s discussion revolving around those top five items and the connective tissue they share.
Angela Hirsch, executive director of the Ripe and Abuse Crisis Service (RACS), said the group received around a dozen calls a day from people experiencing homelessness who are seeking shelter. She said the average stay for survivors and their children used to be around six months, but the current average has reached around nine months.
“The biggest reason for this extended stay is the housing situation in our community. These families come to us for a safe place to stay because it’s not safe for them in their home, and then there’s nowhere for them to go,” Hirsch said. “Ninety percent of the people that we see in shelter want to stay in Jefferson City, either because they come here fleeing another community or because they have another support system here.”
Building Community Bridges (BCB) co-founder Doug Wright said tackling the housing issue would make an impact on shelter for the homeless population, with the demolition of vacant or blighted properties another opportunity to build something new.
“If we focus on the housing situation, you’ve got the homeless taken care of, you’ve got the childcare, you’ve got the the construction of housing — all those other things are taken care of,” he said. “That’s the need at the forefront right now. … I’d rather focus on one object and let that impact other parts.”
While there weren’t any definitive plans decided on, the group agreed they wanted to see a continued investment in the city’s down payment assistance program with the possibility of a cap to awards. BCB’s Alicia Edwards said the program, which assists low-to-median income first-time home buyers with down payments, was a vital tool.
“We’ve got to think about the population of people in Jefferson City that are wanting everyone to be homeowners. They don’t want anyone to be renters because they think that renters don’t take care of their property,” she said. “I think it’s a great resource. I think it needs to be talked about more.”
With the community’s input in mind, city staff members will now focus on putting together a draft. There will be another public meeting in May to present the draft plan, followed by a presentation June 8 before Public Works and Planning and a planned presentation July 17 to the city council. The plan is due to HUD on Aug. 16.