The Sioux City Council on Monday agreed to direct $150,000 in funding to the city’s sole homeless shelter in hopes it will no longer close on October 1.
Now, board members of The Warming Shelter will meet this week and decide if they will close, or if the new city money and some incoming donations will be enough to keep the facility open.
The council voted to provide the money to The Warming Shelter in February 2025. Prior to the council voting, Warming Shelter Executive Director Shayla Moore told Siouxland Public Media News that the $150,000 from the city may not change the decision made a few weeks ago to close.
Moore said the shelter needs from $800,000 to $900,000 annually to operate, and the board wants to have at least three if not five years of funding pinpointed, so as to provide sufficient services.
The Warming Shelter opened in 2013 in downtown Sioux City.
It has been a beacon and safe place for people experiencing homelessness particularly during the coldest months in Siouxland.
Over 11 years, more than 150,000 nights of shelter were provided, plus other resources for unhoused people.
Warming Shelter Board member Joe Twidwell spoke to the council members about the recent dialogue on its functioning.
“A painful as this process has been, the dialog has been exceptional, and it's really brought, I think, the agencies and it's brought the community together to really focus on, how do we collectively do this so that we actually help people get off of the street, get back into the workforce?” Twidwell said.
Moore said a decision on whether to reverse the closure decision will likely come by Friday.
*Additionally, the Sioux City School Board has started a search for a new superintendent to lead the school district, as Rod Earleywine on Monday confirmed his plans to retire at the end of the school year.
According to a release, the board members will hire a recruiting firm in the near future to undertake a wide search for a new superintendent.
Earleywine is a former longtime superintendent at nearby Sergeant Bluff-Luton, who took the Sioux City superintendency in 2022 after the departure of Paul Gausman.
“Over the last couple of years, I have been privileged to work alongside very dedicated educators and administrators, all with the common goal of ensuring students reach their highest potential,” Earleywine said.
“We have important work to accomplish this school year, and I am committed to building on the success we have already achieved over the next several months.”
*In other news, the 30th anniversary celebration of the creation of the Ho-Chunk Inc. will take place Wednesday, and a key federal official will be on hand in Winnebago, Nebraska.
Attending the event will be Isabel Casillas Guzman, who is the head of the Small Business Administration. She also works in the Biden administration cabinet, a Ho-Chunk release said, as the voice for more than 34 million small businesses.
Guzman will start Wednesday with a stop in Omaha to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a visit to a local Hispanic-owned small business.
On the afternoon, she will travel to Macy to visit Nebraska Indian Community College, which is an inaugural grantee of the SBA’s Tribal College Small Business Achievement program. In the evening, Guzman will give remarks at Ho-Chunk 30th Anniversary Celebration.
Ho-Chunk, Inc. is the Winnebago Tribally-owned corporation that participates in an SBA Business Development Program that has reinvested more than $44 million in dividends in the Tribe, which has resulted in a substantial increase in per capita income.
