The managers of Key West’s homeless shelter, like many of their struggling clients, will be out of work next month.
The nonprofit Southernmost Homeless Assistance League (SHAL) has managed the Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter (KOTS) for the city since 2011 with a month-to-month contract.
City officials told SHAL directors on Aug. 4 that the management contract won’t be renewed after Sept. 30.
Officials are drafting a Request for Proposals to find another manager, city spokeswoman Alyson Crean told the Keys Weekly on Aug. 11.
The dormitory-style shelter is located on College Road on property owned by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. It houses up to 140 homeless adults and has typically opened in the evening and closed in the morning. But KOTS began offering 24-hour shelter operations at the start of the pandemic.
The city paid SHAL $472,000 to operate KOTS in 2019, according to budget documents.
City Commissioner Sam Kaufman, who has championed homeless services, said he shares the sentiments of City Manager Greg Veliz, who complimented the work of SHAL and director Elicia Pintabona, but said the city is ready for a new direction.
Kaufman said the shelter’s efforts throughout the pandemic “deserve high praise” and added that he hopes the new management agency will “build upon the same success that the shelter has recently experienced.”
In an Aug. 4 press release, SHAL Chairman Peter Dswonyk said although the organization is “understandably disappointed with this action, we will of course support any decision made by the Key West City Commission. Our directors and staff are working hard to prepare to turn over KOTS operations to a new, as yet unidentified, entity. We are committed to ensuring the smoothest possible transition with minimal impact to KOTS clients and everyone else in the community.”
“SHAL’s directors are carefully examining its mission and capabilities to determine the organization’s future,” the press release states.
The timeline of the RFP and selection process is unknown, but Kaufman said he confirmed with Veliz that the Sept. 30 deadline would provide sufficient time to install a new operator.
