NORTHWEST BOISE, Idaho — After years of legal battles, Interfaith Sanctuary’s move to northwest Boise is officially back on track. Boise City Council approved the shelter’s revised application Tuesday night, clearing the way for construction to move full steam ahead at the nonprofit’s new State Street location.
The site, a former Salvation Army warehouse, is being transformed into a full-service homeless shelter campus designed to support some of Boise’s most vulnerable residents.
“We're doing an infill project here to build a new shelter home that is a campus where we will house single men and women, families with children… and then we'll have a medical dorm for our most medically fragile with all of our programming and case management and everything under one roof,” said Jodi Peterson-Stigers, executive director of Interfaith Sanctuary.
WATCH: See how Interfaith Sanctuary is moving forward… and addressing the camping ban.
Idaho News 6 has been following this story closely: from the shelter’s initial permit denial, to a reversal by the Idaho Supreme Court last year, and now, the project's restart under Boise’s new zoning code.
“We have stayed the course of construction, which is keeping us on a timeline to hopefully be completed in October of this year,” Peterson-Stigers said.
The shelter’s green light comes just as Idaho’s new statewide camping ban, also known as the Galloway law, went into effect July 1. Mayor Lauren McLean said the city will comply with the law while maintaining its commitment to long-term, compassionate solutions for those experiencing homelessness.
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“Writing a ticket isn't going to solve a problem… However, working in partnership to advance shelter for emergency services, to work with organizations that prevent homelessness… all of that together creates the solutions that we need,” Mayor McLean said.
At Interfaith, staff say they are already working to help shelter guests understand and navigate the new law.
“It's a hard one because it's just such a bad law… But we know that there is education and outreach happening… We are certainly trying to make it easier for people to get onto the backside of our property during the day, trying to expand services,” Peterson-Stigers said.
The shelter is slated to be finished by October, but Interfaith Sanctuary leaders say they are still fundraising to secure the remaining dollars needed to complete the project.
