Brainerd overnight shelter clears hurdle in effort to stay open year-round

BRAINERD — The overnight shelter for unhoused people in Brainerd is trying again to gain city approval to be open year-round.

The Bridge on 7th, operated by nonprofit Bridges of Hope, cleared its first hurdle by gaining the unanimous recommendation of the Planning Commission for its interim use permit on Wednesday, March 18. On April 6, that permit will go before the Brainerd City Council.

In 2025, the Council rejected the request over concerns about whether the shelter attracts people from outside the city, perceived public safety issues and potentially murky data on those utilizing the shelter. Bridges of Hope sought the extension through the summer months last year in part due to public property camping bans passed by both the Brainerd and Baxter city councils.

The organization has since worked to develop a public safety plan with outgoing Brainerd Police Chief John Davis. The chief said he was pleased with the increased communication between the department and the shelter.

"Time will tell if a little bit of our creativity and our forethought to address some of those things actually works or not," Davis said during the Commission meeting. "But I’m hopeful and I appreciate where we’ve come in the last year."

The Bridge on 7th also formalized partnerships with other social services organizations and created a new Pathways program to help guests find jobs, housing or meet other needs, like receiving treatment for substance use or accessing health care. As part of a guest agreement, those staying at the shelter must agree to participate in the program and make progress.

Bill Weir is the shelter manager and oversees the new program. He said since the program launched Feb. 1, 10 people have become housed, six people have entered treatment and five people have gotten jobs — including two people with two jobs.

"We’re actually able to sit down and talk with our guests one to one, give them the attention that they deserve, figure out what is going on, what they need, and what we can better do to help them," Weir said. " ... That's a huge, huge bound to make in a month and a half. Now just imagine what we can do if we were open 12 months a year. ... The shelter is not an end place, it's a beginning place."

Weir and Executive Director Jana Shogren told the Commission they felt like the organization had addressed many of the Council's concerns with their efforts over the past year. Shogren said while they've always worked with partners like day center Lighthouse Beginnings, the Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen and Crow Wing County, they have formalized those collaborations and are working together to track outcomes.

Shogren said the summer closures result in people scattering and compared the result to a "summer slide" that teachers experience with students.

"We lose all touch with them, and any sort of progress that we've maybe helped them make in terms of job searching, treating mental illness, attending to addiction, searching for housing, whatever that might be, you know, we just see a big backslide on that," she said. "We have to start all over again in the fall."

Shogren said while longer-term homelessness is an issue they're seeking to address, she's especially concerned about people who might experience homelessness just before the shelter closes for the season.

"Let's say somebody, for whatever reason, becomes unhoused April 1 or April 15, let's say, through a job loss, a relationship change, whatever that might be — that person only has a couple of weeks, so to speak, before the impending deadline of closing the shelter on April 30," Shogren said.

Council member Tad Erickson is the Council liaison on the Planning Commission. He voted against the change last year but agreed to recommend the permit this year with added conditions.

Erickson thanked the organization for acknowledging what he described as legitimate concerns of the Council, noting those concerns remain for him but sees the steps being taken to mitigate them.

"When those legitimate concerns from myself and I think other Council members were brought up, the response was quite passionate, as it should be. But it was a pretty rocky road for both Bridges and the city going through that," Erickson said.

He said he was assured by the application and public safety plan.

"I don’t want to see the city stand in the way of a nonprofit doing good nonprofit work, regardless of what the nonprofit is, and I don’t want to see the city stand in the way of a business wanting to do what a business wants to do with their property," Erickson said.

"So I’ve kind of grappled with this, and found those principles at odds with ... the concerns that I had about some of the operations. With that said, I like the work that’s been done."

Conditions added to the interim use permit include that if police determine the facility has been used in a disorderly manner, the permit could be suspended or revoked. Shelter staff would also be required to provide a report to Council each year.