Brunswick looking to join Medina in potentially providing funding for Next Step Up emergency shelter

BRUNSWICK — The city is considering providing funding for the county's emergency shelter, Next Step Up, to help the shelter continue operating next year. Medina Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Skip Sipos gave a presentation about the shelter to Brunswick City Council on Tuesday. Next Step Up opened in February in Medina. He said guests live communally in the men's room, women's room and family room, and there are 27 beds and two cribs. "Since Feb. 28 through Sept. 30, 141 guests have entered the shelter," Sipos said. "Of those, 15 have been children and seven (have been) veterans, and we have welcomed six canines and two felines. Pets are often a barrier for folks accepting shelter, so our shelter is the only one in Ohio that does that." Households can comprise one person or multiple people, he said. Since February, 19 households have left the shelter and entered into lease agreements, and 35 more households have found alternative housing with family and friends. Also, three veterans received Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, which allowed them to gain permanent housing, Sipos said. While in the shelter, 22 people secured employment. People using the shelter come from all over Medina County, he said. There is no time limit at the shelter, but the average stay is 34 days. "We have people face these challenges," Sipos said. "It's real. You may not see it, but it's real." Ohio decided it will not fund shelters like Next Step Up that are not currently in the funding rotation, he said. "Until the state begins funding new shelters, and we're considered new in their eyes, where we're eligible for renewal funding, the community has to continue to support this," Sipos told the Medina County commissioners on Tuesday. In August, Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said Next Step Up requested funding from the city for next year. Medina stated it would allocate $50,000 in funding to the shelter, contingent on funding also coming from the county, Brunswick and Wadsworth. On Tuesday, Brunswick City Manager Carl DeForest said the city is preparing its 2026 budget presentation for Council. He talked with Finance Director Todd Fisher about putting $50,001 in the 2026 budget for the shelter, and Council will discuss the budget on Nov. 3. "We can have a discussion between now and then, but instead of doing the budget and then doing a budget amendment immediately after passing it, I think it'd be the easiest process to go through," DeForest said. "I get the sense that it's a project that we want to support." Wadsworth Mayor Robin Laubaugh said Wadsworth is similarly considering allocating funding toward the shelter in its 2026 budget, but next year's budget has not been finalized by the city yet. Sipos also gave a similar presentation on Next Step Up to the commissioners on Tuesday. The commissioners did not comment on county funding being allocated for the shelter during Tuesday's meeting. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.