(The Center Square) The city of Baton Rouge is looking to spend $1 million on a non-congregate homeless shelter. The project will also include $5 million from the Louisiana Housing Corporation.
According to the July 24 public meeting agenda, the city is asking the mayor to approve a contract between the city of Baton Rouge, the Parish of East Baton Rouge, the Mayor’s Office of Community Development, and St. Vincent de Paul for the construction of the non-congregate shelter from June 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026.
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome announced the St. Vincent de Paul Non-Congregate Shelter early this year in a news release stating, “As Baton Rouge’s first non-congregate shelter, the facility will bridge the gap to housing for hundreds of families annually. In addition to being the first non-congregate shelter, the facility will also be the first 24-hour shelter in East Baton Rouge Parish.”
The shelter will be two stories with 32 rooms, four beds in each room, for a total of 128 beds. It will be used for families or individuals, with the family units having conjoined rooms for those with children, who will be up to eight people.
The city previously spent $1.3 million to construct the St Vincent de Paul Ott emergency Disaster and Overflow Shelter, which opened in March 2020. According to the news release, the shelter had 30,000 bed nights in 2023, which is defined as a single night in a bed at a shelter.
The mayor updated the Road to Address Homelessness on July 18, showing that the city has issued over $55 million in assistance to 10,000 families, $2 million for shelters, and $30 million for affordable housing developments for over 1,400 affordable housing units.
The January 2023 PIT Count Data shows that Baton Rouge had 435 individuals who were homeless.
Mark Armstrong, communications director for the mayor, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
