In Flagler County, Florida, the Expo Hall at the county fairgrounds will become the new base for the County's only cold-weather shelter.
That shift lets The Sheltering Tree keep operating after it lost the Bunnell church property it had been using.
Here's what to know
The Sheltering Tree opens only when temperatures reach 40 degrees or lower, and it operates from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. FlaglerLive reported that the Flagler County Commission approved the fairgrounds Expo Hall as the new location for the county's only cold-weather shelter for people experiencing homelessness and others in need.
Several local governments jointly support the overnight shelter. Under the agreement, The Sheltering Tree will receive $1,500 for each night it operates, with Flagler County, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, and Bunnell sharing the cost.
For five years, the organization had used the former Church on the Rock in Bunnell for cold-weather sheltering. When the church sold the property and ended its relationship with the group, officials had to find another site.
Outside this program, Flagler County has no permanent shelter. The cold-weather service is offered only when temperatures become dangerous.
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More background
Because groups such as the 4-H Club, the Cattlemen's Association, and people involved with the annual fair also use the Expo Hall, county officials were cautious about the revised arrangement.
Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord said a listening session with several fairgrounds stakeholders helped settle those concerns.
"We used some of those concerns to also to draft the facility's use agreement to make sure that we could address the operating parameters that The Sheltering Tree would utilize the fairgrounds Expo Hall as an emergency cold weather shelter," Lord said, according to FlaglerLive.
The discussion also showed how some local officials view the arrangement. Commissioner Kim Carney said: "They're getting a good deal. They're getting free rent. They're getting free use. They're getting free utilities. They're getting basically a deep clean. So they're getting a good deal."
What's being done?
Along with shifting the shelter to the new site, the county is also putting a formal use-of-facility agreement in place to spell out how the Expo Hall will function as an emergency shelter.
Lord said that agreement will continue to be adjusted as The Sheltering Tree starts operating there on cold nights.
The commission unanimously approved a motion allowing the administration to develop a use-of-facilities agreement, giving the shelter a clearer path forward after losing its longtime church location.
"I'd say we're getting a good deal, not them," Commissioner Greg Hansen said, per FlaglerLive. "We need the shelter. We need to have the ability to shelter our homeless."
Where can I learn more?
These stories show how communities in Florida and beyond face similar questions about where people can shelter when weather turns dangerous.
• Across disaster-hit areas, tiny homes provide shelter for residents displaced by extreme weather.
• In Volusia County, a nonprofit broke ground on a shipping-container tiny-home village.
• In Lake County, officials relocated most dogs after HVAC failures during triple-digit heat.
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