Previously rejected tax increase for Strides Shelter gets 2nd chance with voters Tuesday

By JANA WIERSEMA

jwiersema@news-gazette.com

CHAMPAIGN - Five months after voters rejected a property-tax increase by a margin of 57-43 percent, local officials are hoping for a different outcome in Tuesday's election.

Among other things, the referendum — nearly identical to the one that failed in November — would provide funding for Strides, a low-barrier homeless shelter run by the City of Champaign Township.

The shelter is currently supported by temporary COVID-19 relief funding, with enough left to last to October, said Township Supervisor Kyle Patterson.

"It doesn't look very good if (the referendum) doesn't pass," he said.

The question on the ballot for Tuesday's election proposes to raise the township's property tax rate to 22.03 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value - a 428 percent increase over the current rate of 4.17 cents -"for the purpose of maintaining a24/7, low-barrier shelter and providing for Assessor's Office needs."

Township officials estimate that the tax hike would generate over $4 million in additional revenue annually. It's estimated that the increase would cost the owner of a single-family home valued at $100,000 an additional $60.22 per year.

If approved, the tax increase would fund the shelter's basic operations while also enabling it to hire more staff, add more programming and provide additional help to its guests, Patterson said.

The township also would use the additional tax revenue to create a dedicated fund for rental assistance, increase the amount given for general assistance and hire an additional staff member for the assessor's office.

John Phillips, who is running against Patterson in Tuesday's election, said he is "torn" when it comes to the referendum.

While its passage would make the supervisor's job easier, the question is "a tough sell" to residents, both due to economics and concerns about the state of the shelter, he said.

"The way things have been handled with the Strides center as of now, I wouldn't feel comfortable putting a lot of money into the hands, with the current leadership there," Phillips said, though he does feel the community needs a low-barrier shelter.

Phil Fiscella, a downtown property owner and commercial Realtor who has been critical of Strides, submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the township this past fall for internal and external communications from shelter staff in 2024 regarding deaths, overdose, rape, assault, battery, abuse, alcohol, banned individuals, theft and trespassing.

The results of the FOIA included an email Mayor Deb Feinen wrote to Patterson in September about her concerns.

Feinen had recently driven past the property several times and was "dismayed" by what she saw: people seemingly passed out on the lawn, empty liquor bottles and "general chaos."

"While I have supported the shelter and the proposed tax increase, I am concerned about what I am seeing and the continued complaints I am receiving," she said, adding that this included an allegation of people "having sex in the parking lot."

Patterson told The News-Gazette that, apart from what Feinen shared, the township is "unaware" of this complaint and would not tolerate such behavior.

At the time, Patterson forwarded the mayor's email to shelter leadership, along with instructions to have staff regularly clean up litter and ensure safety personnel "are not allowing any alcohol or drug consumption on property, to the best of their abilities." 

A member of the shelter's leadership team replied that employees were "doing their best to keep the area clean," but the shelter had been short staffed for weeks.

"I will ask that safety try to do more checks outside, but some days we only have enough staff to keep the inside of the facility safe," she added.

She also noted that the shelter cannot move people out of the right-of-way, as it is the city's property rather than the shelter's.

Feinen told The News-Gazette on Wednesday that she remains supportive of the referendum.

"Managing a low-barrier shelter isn't easy, and there are changes needed to address residents' concerns and to ensure those in and around the Strides Shelter remain safe," she said.

"However, implementing these changes will require additional staffing and other resources which the Township cannot afford. The concerns that were raised will only get worse if the shelter has to close and the Strides guests have nowhere to turn for shelter."

The FOIA also included many emails between Strides staff members that detailed issues among the shelter's guests, including smuggling in alcohol, violence against each other and staff, theft, sexual harassment and verbal abuse.

On one particularly eventful day, a female staff member responded to multiple incidents, including theft and a massive fight near the shelter.

"She had to deal with a brawl between over ten, possibly twenty, guests in the sandlot," a case manager wrote in an email dated Sept. 8, 2024. "While the sandlot is slightly off property, the individuals involved did include guests, which caused the energy from our guests to have undercurrents of aggression and potential for hot spots of violence."

After the fight was broken up, there was a medical emergency involving a guest and another "physical altercation."

"We wrapped up our day scrubbing blood from the property and she did everything without one word of complaint," the case manager wrote, later adding that the female staffer did not take a break, even for lunch.

Patterson said that the shelter began holding in-person deescalation training last year, which he believes has made a difference and given staff "more tools" to respond to crises.

He also feels that having additional staff would help the shelter respond to problems and hopefully "cut them off before they really start."

Staff emails also mentioned issues occurring outside the shelter, including drug activity, individuals making threats to staff and guests, violence and encampments.

Mubanga Chanda, owner of nearby Zambian restaurant Stango Cuisine, said that once in a while, she sees people come into her business to use the bathrooms, leaving a mess and using up a great deal of toilet paper.

"Some of them would come in and bother the customers a bit," she said.

It's difficult for Chanda to tell whether it's shelter guests who are causing problems or other members of the community — such as in an incident where someone stole the generator from her food truck.

She feels that the shelter's rules for guests should be more strict.

"They definitely need some help, because we cannot just ignore that," Chanda said, when asked for her thoughts on the referendum. "Something has to be done. But like I was saying, there's got to be abetter plan."

Phillips feels the shelter's current location at 70 E. Washington St. is a "disservice" to both downtown and "the unhoused community."

"It's just too small," he added.

If elected supervisor, Phillips said he would work with police, and private security, if necessary, to immediately address the issues going on outside the shelter until a new location can be found. He feels the current situation is "totally and utterly unacceptable" and creates a "drain" on local emergency responders.

The shelter has "helped a lot of people," he acknowledged. "It's helped a lot of people on a daily basis, getting people off the streets, giving people a warm place to sleep, to eat. There's definitely a need for that. So that's the good."

"It's a roof over your head. Some people don't have that," said Angelo Evans, who stayed at the shelter from about February to July 2024.

Evans, who is 65, had found himself without a place to live after moving to the area from New York City and putting his mother in a local nursing home.

He said he did not see a lot of fights and found his time at Strides to be generally "peaceful," though he noted that he stayed inside the shelter most of the time. He has since moved into an apartment, which Strides staff helped him find.

"I'm glad (the shelter) was there for me, and I hope it continues," Evans said, adding it would be nice if there was a way to expand Strides' capacity.

The shelter has 64 permanent beds and 10 emergency cots, Patterson said. During the winter,its capacity stretches to 80 people. As of mid-March, the shelter was still operating at this level.

"Most of the people from the shelter are from here, and they're not going to have anywhere to go" if it closes, he said. "... These are our people. And shelter or not, they will be here."