DAYTON — City leaders are looking for a new operator for the largest homeless shelter in Dayton.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, St. Vincent de Paul will no longer operate the Gettysburg Gateway for Men shelter.
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Hundreds of men come to the facility on any given night.
It’s a place to stay out of the elements while they work to get back on their feet.
The City of Dayton owns the building, but with St. Vincent de Paul leaving, they need to find a new operator or management company.
“It is extra work, it is a disruption,” City Manager Shelley Dickstein said.
Dickstein said the city understands the financial pressure that led St. Vincent de Paul to focus on their women and children’s shelter.
The food served is more expensive and the price of supplies is rising.
City leaders said they have continuously supported the shelter and no financial cuts have been made.
“We come to the table when there’s capital you know, needs and we are still working closely with the county on this replacement operator,” Dickstein said.
Leaders told News Center 7 that most of the shelter’s funding comes from the Montgomery County Human Services Levy.
However, St. Vincent de Paul’s role in the city became more than they could handle.
“And now our resources have stretched to the point where we can no longer do that going forward. The decision we made was to give the community time,” St. Vincent de Paul Society Executive Director Michael Vanderburgh said.
The City of Dayton will work with Montgomery County to find a new operator to run the shelter.
They hope to have the new management in place before St. Vincent de Paul leaves in June 2025.
“We want to make sure, first of all, that the services, or the men in the shelter experience little disruption. But we also want to make sure the community around the shelter and the systems in place don’t experience disruption,” Dickstein said.
City leaders told News Center 7 that they put out requests for proposals, or RFPs, for a new operator after the first of the year.
St. Vincent de Paul management said they will continue to operate the women and children’s shelter close to downtown Dayton.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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