St. Louis officials are seeking help from the community after a new winter shelter fund was announced Thursday.
Mayor Cara Spencer said she’s hoping the fund, which is managed by the St. Louis Community Foundation, will raise at least $250,000 by the end of 2025. It aims to support providers by addressing housing insecurity exacerbated by the tornado and a national housing crisis, Spencer said.
“We are asking members of the community, so many of whom have already asked, ‘Mayor, what can we do to help?’ Well, here is how you can help,” Spencer said. “We are looking for your financial support and helping to support the providers that help and support our unhoused. The need is so enormous, we're asking for the community to step up and participate.”
She said people can donate anywhere from $25 to $1,000 to help. She said more details on how to donate would be released later.
“It is going to be a donor-educated fund,” Spencer added. “That means that all these donations are not only tax-deductible, but they are professionally managed in a donor-advised fund. All of these funds will go to help those in need this winter.”
She said that for now, the city hasn’t seeded any money in the fund, but she expects some seed money to come in soon from the private sector.
Spencer said earlier this month that the city was investing more than $10 million to provide additional services during winter weather to residents living in tornado-damaged homes or those who are homeless due to the storm.
She said hotel rooms and rental assistance would be made available for families with children, seniors 65 and older or those living with accessibility or functional needs.
Water assistance program
Spencer said Thursday that the city is also expanding its water utility assistance program by increasing the payment plan from 12 months to 24 months. In September, the city lifted a moratorium on water bills that had been in place since 2020.
“This will allow us to continue to move forward with (the) collection of over $14 million owed to our water division,” Spencer said. “As you all know, especially during these cold winter months, as we start to see those water main breaks take up, we have a lot of unmet need in our water division and our water department, the infrastructure.
“So making sure that we do have revenue coming into that department is incredibly important to the solvency of our water division.”
This story will be updated.
