Community partners from the area have worked together to provide

food, comfort, and encouragement, while continuing to work together to

find permanent housing for families and the medically fragile.
 Community partners from the area have worked together to provide
food, comfort, and encouragement, while continuing to work together to
find permanent housing for families and the medically fragile.

3
 With very little notice, CRHC and local partners quickly worked to find
emergency shelter for the households displaced from the Budgetel Inn.

On 11/16/2022, 75 hotel
rooms were secured.
122 188 106

As of 12/12/2022, 47 Households Adults Children

rooms have been secured
for households that had
been sleeping in their cars
from the displacement.
 Hotels were secured throughout Hamilton County.

71% of the
households are
staying at Super
8, The Chatt Inn,
and the Econo
Lodge.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DP04ACS047061
 Housing Navigators are working diligently to secure permanent
housing for all displaced households.

80 Households that are currently

staying in hotels are working with
Housing Navigators

42 Households that are currently

staying in hotels are pending Housing
Navigator assignments

17 additional households that were

residents of the Budgetel Inn – but are
not currently residing in a hotel – are
also working with a Housing Navigator.
Some households were able to self-resolve; however, we have
currently placed 15 persons into permanent housing.

We expect to 4 8 7
be able to
house many
more
Households
households Adults Children
within the next
3 months.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DP04ACS047061
Households are quickly moving through the housing process,
but we still need more time.

113 70 45 13 20
Homeless Homeless Homeless
Preference Background Public Housing
Checks Approved Preference Preference
Voucher Voucher Voucher
Applications
Pre-Screening Applications Applications
Completed
Submitted Started Submitted

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DP04ACS047061
It costs approximately $65,000 every two weeks to keep these
households in hotel rooms.

As the number The Flex Fund will help cover

of housing move-in expenses, but we need
funding now to keep people safely
placements sheltered until they can move into
goes up… permanent housing.
Uses of Flex Fund
The hotel Rental
expense will Application
Security
Deposits
Utility Deposits
Fees
come down.
Identification
Utility Arrears Etc.
Fees
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DP04ACS047061
 Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Is the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition making money off of this
tragedy?

A: No. The Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition is not a standalone agency, but
rather acts as a fiscal agent for a large coalition of more than a dozen nonprofit
organizations who service the homelessness sector across an 11-county region. In
Chattanooga, the Coalition has more than 1,400 homeless individuals in its database who
it and its partners are serving.

The organization receives significant federal and local funding, which allows it to
coordinate and pass through funding to support the activities of subrecipient
organizations. Because its operations and staffing are already funded through other
means, 100% of both private and public funds collected to temporarily house residents
displaced from the Budgetel will go toward that keeping residents in hotels, which will be
audited and verified by the City.
 Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: The number of residents being served by service providers is different from

those on the hotel’s room logs. Why the discrepancy?

A: While the Budgetel may have had an inadequate registry, the omission of some
family members from hotel logs is not uncommon, particularly in low-cost and
extended stay motels. For the protection of minors, the City of Chattanooga is only
sharing the names of heads of households. However, this does not change the fact
that the City’s Office of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (OHSH), the United
Way, Hamilton County Schools and others have actively verified that each resident
was displaced from the Budgetel before approaching the Coalition for hotel approval.
Lastly, as the City’s OHSH team places residents into permanent housing, the number
of residents in hotels will continue to change and trend downward over time.
 Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: You said that the families currently staying in hotels were verified as having
been displaced from the Budgetel. How was this verified?

A: The majority of households (55) were placed into temporary hotels on the day of
the Budgetel’s closure by the City of Chattanooga’s OHSH staff who were on the
scene. Of the people placed afterwards, 49 were on the official registry and 18 were
verified by social workers of other organizations that required documentations of the
resident’s stay. This documentation could be a receipt, documentations of payment by
a third party, or verification of cohabitation with other hotel guests.

As of today, there are 110 hotel rooms being utilized with a total of 269 people. This
number will continue to fall as families are placed into homes.
 Household Breakdown by the Numbers

● Households on the official registry of Budgetel:100

● Households cohabitating (OHSH verified): 12
● Onsite on the day of closing: 4
● Verified by third party (United Way, Met Min, Hamilton County
School social workers): 6
 Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: The Budgetel hotel was shut down because of the large number of calls for
service at that location, and several residents had criminal records or were sex
offenders. How can we be sure that we’re not supporting criminals and criminal
behavior?

A: There are residents who have already paid their debt to society living in every single
district across our community. And as with every large community, the Budgetel was
surely home to a number of bad actors who caused a disproportionate burden on
surrounding residents. However, this does not change the fact that working families with
children were also making their lives there, and as a result of this government dislocation
have lost their livelihoods and their home, however imperfect those things may have
been. The Coalition and its partners prioritized helping families with children and people
with medical issues.
 Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Is this a wise use of taxpayer resources? Are taxpayers on the hook going forward
for the cost to house these residents?

A: Homelessness is an extremely expensive problem for any community, often involving

indigent medical care, public safety expenses, re-housing costs, as well as costs to
businesses and private property owners. From a cost perspective, a few thousand dollars to
get someone back on their feet and paying taxes is much cheaper than the tens of thousands
of dollars an unhoused person may cost the community in unreimbursed care. And it is both
faster and cheaper to permanently house someone who is in a hotel versus someone who is
living on the street.

In this case, many of these former Budgetel residents were working and self-paying, and are
capable of getting back to work, so this investment will give service providers time to get them
re-housed and re-employed, placing them into a stable situation where they will once again
contribute much-needed labor to the local economy.
 Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Why is this money needed? Why can’t the Homeless Coalition repurpose other
money?

A: As with most grant dollars, the money taken in by the Homeless Coalition comes with
certain stipulations as to how it may be used. For instance, the Flexible Housing Fund, which
helps defray move-in costs for residents exiting homelessness, is specifically prohibited from
being used for hotel/motel expenses, and is designated for permanent housing only. As far as
federal government assistance to residents, that is also insufficient. For instance, the average
disability payment is only $843 per month, which, even if residents had no other costs, would
by itself be insufficient to pay for housing.

With a spending rate currently estimated at $65,000 every two weeks, this emergency funding
supplement will support about one month of the needed three-month runway needed to place
75% of residents into permanent housing. The remaining 25% are expected to self-resolve in
line with typical trends.
 Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Shouldn’t we be directing resources to other needs, such as families displaced by

fires in the homes, or other emergencies?

A: Recurring needs such as house fires are already budgeted for and addressed by agencies
such as the Salvation Army, Red Cross, and the other agencies that make up the
Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition.

Those agencies typically refer affected residents to the City’s Office of Homelessness and
Supportive Housing, and/or the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, after their
resources are exhausted and/or they need to access the Flexible Housing Fund for relocation
purposes.

However, in large-scale displacements, such as the Budgetel, or recently with Patten Towers,
typical day-to-day funding is insufficient to handle such a large influx of residents who need
immediate emergency assistance.
 Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Isn’t the Budgetel reopening? Can’t we just wait?

A: According to Monday’s hearing, the earliest that any part of the Budgetel could open is
January 11, roughly a month from now. This date is also dependant on the Budgetel
management satisfying various court-ordered conditions, as well as priority placement for
affected families, neither of which is guaranteed.

This would require families to live on the street through the Christmas holiday and into the
new year. Even if the Budgetel was reopened today, residents would still need time to be
rehired and accumulate enough money begin self-funding once again.

Lastly, our goal is not for families to move back into the Budgetel, but to move into a
permanent home, which we believe can be accomplished within three months.