Medina City Council to consider $50,000 for Next Step Up emergency shelter

MEDINA — Medina City Council is considering an appropriation of $50,000 to support Medina's Next Step Up emergency shelter. During Monday's Medina Finance Committee meeting, Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said the Next Step Shelter requested $50,000 from the city for 2026. "They're also asking for money from the state of Ohio, which Sharon Ray is working on, as well as from the other two cities, because this is a countywide effort," Hanwell said. Next Step Up is Medina County's first emergency shelter and opened in early 2025. Since then, it has served more than 100 people. Medina Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Skip Sipos previously shared data, which spans from its opening to July 31. The Next Step Up shelter has 27 beds and two cribs, Sipos said, which serves men, women and children. The shelter is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. As of July 31, 101 people have stayed at the shelter, including 12 children. Sipos previously said that on any given night, 26.2 of the 27 beds and two cribs are occupied. Sipos said a household can consist of one or more people. Since its opening, 14 households have exited the shelter and entered a lease agreement of their own. Another 18 households have self-resolved and found alternative housing. During Monday's meeting, Hanwell said the city has an excess of $90,000 in its National Opioid Settlement Funds account, which he suggested the money come from. "One of the purposes of that fund is treatment and recovery efforts, to include housing," Hanwell said, stating he had Medina Law Director Greg Huber look over the documents to ensure it would be an acceptable use. As Medina Finance Committee prepared to move forward with the request for Council action, Hanwell said they are ahead of the other municipalities. With that, he said Council may want to consider that the $50,000 is contingent on funding coming from the county and the other two cities. "So it's not just the city of Medina funding this," he said. Medina Finance Committee subsequently approved the request with the contingency, moving the request to a future Council meeting. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.