Coordinator of response to homelessness discusses efforts to help people obtain services they need
The Sarasota City Commission unanimously has agreed to a $410,365 renewal of the city’s contract with The Salvation Army for beds that can be used for homeless individuals on the city’s streets.
The agreement is for the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2025.
The action came on Feb. 2, during the board’s regular meeting, after Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch asked for remarks from Shellie Legarsky, coordinator of the city’s response to homelessness.
The Agenda Request Form for the item pointed out that city staff initiated the original agreement with The Salvation Army after the city settled a federal lawsuit filed by the Sarasota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of David Cross and other homeless individuals whom the Sarasota Police Department had charged with violating a section of the City Code that prohibits lodging out of doors.
The beds also are a resource for the City of Sarasota case managers who work with the Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), enabling the case managers to connect individuals “with housing resources in the community,” the form noted.
The Salvation Army’s facility — the Center of Hope Shelter Complex — stands at 1400 10th St. in Sarasota.
Thanks to the availability of the beds in the 2025 fiscal year — which ended on Sept. 30, 2025 — 361 persons “were connected with housing options,” including permanent housing or with a support system in another state, as well as “employment, recovery and mental health programs,” the form said.
“Sometimes, we connect [the individuals] to family out of state,” Legarsky told the commissioners on Feb. 2. Further, she explained in regard to the services provided, The Salvation Army can help persons with substance abuse.
“At the end of the day,” she pointed out, “our goal is to end their homeless crisis” and provide clients services they need “for long-term sustainability.”
Legarsky added, “Our partnership with The Salvation Army is critical in the [city’s response to homelessness].”
Although the city’s initial contract had been written to allow for the use of 20 beds, “with up to 25” set aside for HOT members, the Agenda Request Formexplained, the city had “been paying for 25, regardless. “We changed the language to [specify] 25 beds and [allow for] 30 days [of] notice if we need to decrease [the number], which we haven’t done … in the past,” the form continued.
The cost of the beds has increased from $40 per bed per day to $45, the form also pointed out. “This contract increase of $45,625 is to support the growing operational cost associated with [The] Salvation Army,” it said. “There has not been an increase since 2022.”
The contract was on the City Commission’s Consent Agenda 1 of routine business matters for the Feb. 2 meeting. Commissioner Ahearn-Koch told her colleagues she had pulled it, to allow Legarsky, the homelessness response coordinator, to make a presentation, so city residents could learn about the services.
“We’ve had this contract in place since 2014,” Legarsky noted.
In response to a question from Ahearn-Koch, she said that the clients do not pay for any services they receive.” However, she acknowledged, they previously did have to pay for the assistance.
If they want help, Legarsky added, members of the HOT put them in Salvation Army beds to start the process.
Yet, she emphasized, “It is up to them whether they want to take the services …”
When Ahearn-Koch asked how many beds Sarasota County Government reserves for use by case workers with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office HOT program, Legarsky said the number is 30.
From December 2025 into January, Legarsky also noted, “We’ve had an average of 17 to 23 individuals staying in our beds, night after night.”
In response to a question from Commissioner Liz Alpert, Legarsky said, “My case managers help people” regardless of whether those homeless individuals want to use the beds.
When Alpert then asked whether a homeless person could ask for one of the beds without going through the HOT program for assistance, Legarsky told her that a Sarasota Police Department officer or a city case manager has to go with an individual to The Salvation Army for the person to be able to use a city bed. (That specification is in the contract, The Sarasota News Leader read. The contract was included in the agenda packet for the Feb. 2 meeting.)
When Mayor Debbie Trice then asked Legarsky whether the county’s beds have been full, Legarsky replied that those beds have been full or nearly full. “We will assist each other in that capacity,” she added of collaboration with the county HOT program members.
Following the exchanges with Ahearn-Koch and Alpert, Vice Mayor Kathy Kelley Ohlrich told Legarsky “how much we value the services you bring to our residents and our visitors who are homeless.” Ohlrich noted that her comment was for the entire city team.
“Thank you,” Legarsky responded.
Ahearn-Koch ended up making the motion to approve the new contract, and Commissioner Kyle Battie seconded it.