Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

With only about 24-48 hours’ notice, the adult homeless shelter operated by Homeward Bound of the Grand Valley on North Avenue closed for three days over the weekend of Oct. 10-12, leaving many people that take shelter there with nowhere to go as rain and cold temperatures moved through the area.

Homeward Bound said in a statement the closure was primarily due to grant-funding cuts and a lack of foundation support.

The organization announced late in the week its North Avenue shelter will be closed Fridays through Sundays until further notice. The partial shutdown caught the community and those staying at the shelter by surprise. No prior warning appeared on the nonprofit’s social media pages, and there were no public requests for donations or volunteers in the weeks or months prior, asking for community help in avoiding the indefinite three-day-a-week closure.

“I rolled up and got kicked out for staying between the dry box and the building,” said Catherine Moore, one of several residents interviewed outside the shelter. “They told us either last Wednesday or Thursday. We didn’t get advance warning. People have been scrambling to find places to stay. Somebody stayed under the river bridge on 29 Road.”

Others echoed that sentiment.

“We weren’t notified about anything. It was spur of the moment,” another man said. “They might have known, but we didn’t. It shocked us. We had to go.”

The abrupt closure also comes as the City of Grand Junction finalizes its 2026 budget and considers an unprecedented request from Homeward Bound for $535,000 to help cover its operations. The city had sent out a request for proposals for all nonprofits in the homeless sector to share a pool of potentially $500,000 for expanding to new currently unmet services, and Homeward Bound did not apply. Rather, Homeward Bound sent in the request for operational expenses outside of the RFP process.

During the Oct. 13 Grand Junction City Council workshop, the council discussed Homeward Bound’s plan to close the Navigation Center, which the city funds and which opened June 16, 2025. The Navigation Center had been created in anticipation of the city shutting down the downtown day center, which itself opened after former City Manager Greg Caton ordered Whitman Park fenced off in September 2023. The park had long been a gathering place where many homeless residents stayed and volunteers regularly provided meals and other services. Whitman Park remains fenced off to the community currently.

Council member Anna Stout called for Homeward Bound’s leadership to appear at the next council workshop to explain the situation.

“Given the latest news and everything that’s going on, I would really suggest we bring them here,” Stout said.

City Manager Mike Bennett told the council he had met with new Homeward Bound Executive Director Dan Prinster, and the organization had not requested emergency funding from the city to avoid the weekend closure.

“They’re seeking private funding to get through the winter months,” Bennett said.

Homeless residents caught unprepared

When asked if Homeward Bound had reached out to the community or launched any fundraising before the shutdown, several people who stay at the shelter regularly said they had seen no signs of it.

“They didn’t do a lot,” one resident said. “They weren’t out asking for help. We didn’t know anything until it happened.”

Moore said she came to Colorado from southern Iowa and was in Aspen when she suffered an asthma attack in her car, and it was recommended she come to Grand Junction for help. Of the three others interviewed, one was from Texas and two said they travel back and forth between Arizona and Grand Junction.

The Business Times reached out to Homeward Bound and has not received a response, but we will provide an update when we get one.

Other shelters step in

As word spread about the closure, other organizations in and outside the Grand Valley worked to fill the gap. Council discussed how The Joseph Center opened its doors to take in a limited number of women and families. Pathways Village offered space for some of the most medically fragile individuals. Mutual Aid Partners posted on Facebook that a church from Basalt had brought food to serve in the parking lot.

According to council member Scott Beilfuss, the Joseph Center took in 10 of the most vulnerable residents that weekend, while Pathways on 29 Road, which is also run by Homeward Bound of the Grand Valley, sheltered approximately 32 people.

“There are people that are so weak and fragile and disabled that they can’t be out there,” a city official said during the council’s workshop. “Their lives are at risk after one night.”

Beilfuss also noted the Joseph Center provides case management and transitional services that help people move out of homelessness.

City weighs funding

The Grand Junction City Council is expected to hold a follow-up workshop in the coming weeks to hear directly from Homeward Bound leadership about the weekend closures, the organization’s finances and its future plans for the winter season.

Mayor Cody Kennedy said he spent time speaking with the board and new executive director of Homeward Bound and agreed that having them come to a workshop would be a good next step.

The city’s proposed 2025 budget includes the request from Homeward Bound for $535,000, which would be the largest single-year allocation ever given to the nonprofit.

“Homeward Bound had originally asked for the $531,000 broken out as 225 (thousand) for North Avenue operations and 306 (thousand) for the Navigation Center, then just recently asked us to just move that all as one for North Avenue,” Bennett said.

By comparison, Bennett said the city provided $150,000 in 2023 and $250,000 in 2024 and had traditionally given about $50,000 or less for operations.

In addition to Homeward Bound, the city partially funds several other organizations that support homeless residents, including the Joseph Center, Hilltop’s Pathways Village, and United Way’s coordinated entry system. These partners provide family sheltering, transitional housing and case-management programs that connect individuals to employment and permanent housing.