Council supports plan to extend day center at Silver Lake through April 2022

The Rochester City Council on Monday directed staff to come back with a lease agreement with The Landing MN that would allow the nonprofit to continue operating the day center at Silver Lake Park through April 2022.

The vote followed a more than 90 minute discussion about the future of the center and, more broadly, the state of homelessness in the area.

Under the proposed agreement, The Landing would continue to operate out of the space for eight more months, mostly on its own dime. The city would only be responsible for providing the building and paying utilities.

The Landing first began operating out of the old fire station at Silver Lake in fall 2020 using city-designated CARES Act funding. Intended only to be a short-term strategy as part of the city’s pandemic emergency response, the council in March extended the nonprofit’s lease through August 31. To date, the city has invested about $875,000 in the facility.

On Monday, however, the council made clear this would be the last extension for Silver Lake day center. While many of the councilors said they were in support of the work being done at the site, they noted that it was never the city’s intention to set up a permanent shelter there.

Council Member Nick Campion said while the original plan to fund the facility with CARES money worked well for a period of time, the use of emergency funding meant there always needed to be a wind-down plan.

To that end, Campion introduced a series of amendments that would require The Landing to develop a preparedness plan for connecting clients with other services in the community once the lease was over.

“We need to see acknowledgement of the fact that this is to-a-date certain, because consistently I do not see a plan for transitioning this vulnerable population to other services within our community, and I am nervous we will be here in April facing much of the same situation.”

Under the measure endorsed by the council Monday, The Landing would also be asked to provide Olmsted County — which is largely responsible for managing social service programs — with data regarding client outcomes. The goal, according to county officials, is to better connect individuals with access to mental health care, stable housing, and other services.

(Note: Separately, the County Board will be asked Tuesday to approve a staff recommendation to use $16.1 million of the $30 million the county received from the federal American Rescue Fund Act for housing. This includes a five-year plan to create and preserve more than 1,100 affordable housing units in Olmsted County, along with a new program to build and purchase affordable homes to help more residents move into homeownership.)

In a recent episode of the Rochester Rundown podcast, presented by Med City Beat, Landing co-founder and president Dan Fifield said about 550 people have used the day center’s services since first opening. The center provides hot showers, warm meals, haircuts and medical exams.

“We know that The Landing stood up during a crisis. We know they did the best they could with the resources they had, and touched a lot of peoples’ lives,” said Council President Brooke Carlson. “I know [these lease terms] are a little stricter. I hope that feels like a step forward and helps prepare your for your next step in the community as a long-term nonprofit.”

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.