The YMCA of Central Ohio will step away from operating the Van Buren Emergency Shelter, the largest homeless shelter in Franklin County, and the Community Shelter Board will look for new operators to take over, the two organizations announced jointly on Wednesday, October 21. The YMCA will stop serving as the shelter’s operator effective June 30, 2027, giving the shelter board more than eight months to arrange a transition.
The Community Shelter Board, which owns the shelter, said it will issue a request for proposals for multiple operators to run different parts of the facility rather than seeking a single replacement. Tony Collins, president and CEO of the YMCA of Central Ohio, said the YMCA will work with the shelter board to make sure no person who needs the Van Buren shelter experiences a lapse in service during the changeover.
The shelter is housed in a retrofitted warehouse at 595 Van Buren Drive in South Franklinton and opened in 2014. According to the shelter board, it houses about 520 people on an average night, including single adults and families, and that number can exceed 650 during the winter. Most guests stay in large rooms with rows of bunk beds, and the facility also has some private family rooms, though those can fill up and families then stay in the larger rooms.
Collins said the decision is part of a strategic shift by the YMCA away from operating emergency shelter and toward homelessness prevention and long-term housing stability, and he said it is not a reaction to past criticism of conditions at the shelter. The YMCA will continue to provide case management services that help individuals and families move from shelter to stable housing.
Community Shelter Board Chief Executive Officer Shannon Isom said the shelter reflects larger forces, including a shortage of deeply affordable housing in Columbus and high rents, and that Van Buren should remain open as long as those conditions stay. The shelter board has coordinated Franklin County’s response to homelessness for four decades, and Isom noted that partners are moving away from large congregate settings over the long term, even as emergency shelters still fill a gap each night.
The YMCA has operated the shelter for more than a decade. Guests receive case management, employment resources, on-site medical providers, meal service and housing search assistance. Isom said the YMCA has served the community for the past 10 years with compassion and dedication, and that the board is grateful for a partnership that made a difference for thousands of neighbors.
For people who rely on the shelter now, officials said nothing changes immediately, and the long timeline is intended to keep beds and services in place while new operators are selected. Collins said the YMCA aims to serve one in five people across central Ohio by 2035 and has started work to expand child care access and community center hubs.