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The Cambridge City Council voted to consider renewing funding for the Transition Wellness Center at Spaulding Hospital in a 5-4 vote at their Monday meeting after a heated debate and hours of public comment.

The city initially decided to close the 58-bed shelter after its lease ends in June, sparking outrage from Cambridge residents who attested to the shelter’s high quality and privacy during the last two meetings of the council. Now, that decision has the potential to be reversed.

The shelter opened in December of 2020 as a “temporary solution” to a reduction in shelter capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially funded by $88 million from The American Rescue Plan act, the expanded housing was intended to close in 2023. Last year however, the council voted to extend the contract through city funds.

Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern, who introduced the reconsideration to the agenda, said in an interview that he wanted the rest of council to keep the impact of the shelter in mind as they discuss 2026 budget finalizations.

“Eventually what we would like is for everybody to have their own place, as opposed to being in a shelter,” McGovern said.“But that doesn’t also mean that the shelter is not necessary, right?”

Some Councilors and city staff members expressed concerns about the shelter’s cost.

“I realize that it’s an incredible program, but it’s taking up 20 percent of our $16 million budget for homeless services, and it only serves 8 percent of our homeless residents.” Councilor Catherine “Cathy” Zusy said. “It only serves 58 residents, and you have something like over 740 unhoused people.”

City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 voiced concerns that if the shelter’s funding was extended, it would become a permanent fixture of the city’s framework and a strain on the budget for years to come.

“I honestly think if we aren’t able to execute the specific plans we made this year to transition from this program, then we're essentially making a permanent commitment, and this will make it harder for other council initiatives,” Huang said.

The Council’s vote comes a week after several residents of the TWC gave their testimony in public comment, urging the city council to continue its funding.

“Spaulding is a supportive and stable place that allowed a lot of people to rebuild what they have lost and it gives us an opportunity to keep moving forward,” TWC resident James Geldern said to the Council during public comment last week.

A major point of contention for councilors during Monday’s debate was whether the high cost is worth the higher standard of care that the shelter provides, which according to McGovern, is a more expensive program per capita than many other shelters in the city.

“Spaulding specifically, the rent is high.” McGovern said, “All the services like the laundry and the food and cleaning and all that stuff comes from is contracted through Spaulding.”

According to Huang, the TWC costs the city approximately $3 million annually, and the price would likely remain similar after renegotiation.

“I presume that if we were to continue to fund it, there’d be some level of cost escalation, just to recognize that staffing costs, labor costs are going up, we would need to renegotiate some of the contracts with Spaulding,” Huang said.

“So there’s the potential for some escalation, but it will probably be around $3 million a year,” he added.

Despite the concerns, the Council narrowly voted to consider funding the shelter in their 2026 budget by the end of the contentious meeting.

Cambridge residents who spoke during public comment before the vote and residents of Spaulding who spoke to the council last week, pointed out that the Spaulding center is a uniquely supportive shelter in the Cambridge area.

“Spaulding is clean, safe environment to transition to wellness,” TWC resident Deborah Jervis said. “It has been a lifeline in providing a stable, a stability to recover from my medical issues.”

“I think it’s a very good place for people that transition to a better — to find what’s the next step,” TWC resident Youssef Jilal said.

“That place is very good for me, please keep it open,” he added.

—Staff writer Summer E. Rose can be reached at summer.rose@thecrimson.com.