The city of Salem’s latest budget won’t contribute anything to sheltering people from the elements during winter storms and deep freezes for the first time in 13 years.This year’s budget didn’t include any funding toward the emergency warming shelters that open on nights when temperatures ar e at or below freezing. Funding for the warming shelters was not included in City Manager Krishna Namburi’s proposed budget, first released in April, and was not added during the budget committee or the Salem City Council ahead of its adoption on June 22.Jimmy Jones, executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, the organization that coordinates staff and volunteers for the shelters, said he was first alerted to the decision earlier this week by a member of his staff.“Nobody contacted us and let us know that they weren’t going to be investing in it at all. … Maybe it was simply an oversight on their part,” Jones said. He said a Tuesday, July 14, email to Namburi asking for confirmation had still not been answered as of Friday afternoon.“At this point, it just appears to me that that city will not be investing in warming,” Jones said. “All this is really unfortunate. We have worked with the city since 2013 across more city councilors than I can count, more mayors, more city managers, and all of them have expressed a desire and concern to make sure that there was emergency warming available.” For several years, the city of Salem has been pulling back its investments in homeless sheltering services, including Church at the Park’s microshelters and safe parking programs. Sheltering was deprioritized as city leaders closed ranks around police, fire and other historically core services amid its budget crisis.This year, the city’s major general fund investments to address unsheltered homelessness will go to its police Homeless Services Team and cleaning teams that respond to encampments and enforce trespassing. The budget puts $1.2 million toward the police department, and $32,000 toward sheltering and coordination. It also puts $510,000 toward the new Rapid Engagement, Assessment Community Health team, which brings a paramedic, EMT and mental health worker to relevant 911 calls. When asked when the city informed the action agency of the change, city spokesman Rob Layne said in an email that the notice to “the public and community partners” went out at the beginning of last year’s budget process, in 2025, when the funds were first slated to be cut. That budget calls the decision a “cost saving measure.” At that time, the city had not yet passed the livability levy, which eased the city’s financial strain some. But city spokeswoman Courtney-Knox Busch told Salem Reporter at the time that the city would not reinvest in homeless services even if the levy were to pass.Ultimately, however, the city opted to continue funding warming shelters for another year by rolling over $124,670 in unspent funds for the program, according to budget documents. Layne said that the previous budget, and any leftovers, are still being evaluated. Jones said that the shelters, which opened 13 nights this year, spent the remainder of those funds, adding that it’s not about the money. He said the city’s budget is a reflection of its values and priorities. The warming shelters are largely supported by state grants with the city serving as the local investment.“The city’s investment here was symbolically important, even if it wasn’t a whole lot of resource, because it was a way in which they were helping to support the emergency needs of a very, very vulnerable population,” Jones said. “And now it seems like the direction has drifted toward management and control approaches to the problem with regard to law enforcement outreach, referrals, and that sort of thing. … They’re not prioritizing keeping people safe in terrible weather.” In 2023, the action agency pivoted to using largely volunteers for warming shelter efforts after substantial funding cuts. This past year, shelters operated out of the agency’s downtown Day Center and the Salem First Presbyterian Church basement.“We’re going to go out and find the resources to get it open. We’ll do it on our own if we have to. The public can rest assured that there’s going to be emergency warming available for the homeless population this winter when the weather is bad,” Jones said. “I would like to see the city put some skin in the game.”Jones said that the emergency shelters, which have also opened during freezing, floods, wildfire and extreme heat, are unique among Salem’s offerings because it is the only place with no barriers to entry. Anyone can bring their pets or partners, and there are no questions asked about sobriety or citizenship. They are simply a safe place to get a hot meal and sleep.Jones said that, over the years, the warming shelters have helped people who were sleeping in tents full of water and on the brink of hypothermia. They’ve received families with children shivering in their cars and people who had just been released from the hospital without warm clothing.Jones said the city is now putting more energy toward responding to what business owners ask than ensuring homeless people are comfortable and safe. “In my view, every resident of Salem is worthy of the same civil rights as everybody else. So, at times when there are life-threatening circumstances and conditions, the city’s responsibility is to look to emergency management,” Jones said. “And I would hope that that would include the poorest population of Salem as well as everybody else.”Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. Make Salem Reporter your trusted source for accurate, independent local news – every day. Stay informed and connected to your community. Subscribe today. The post Salem’s latest budget leaves warming shelters out in the cold appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less