Pueblo City Council votes to make Safeside Recovery temporary operator of Rescue Mission

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - On Monday, the Pueblo City Council passed a resolution to extend the temporary operations for the Pueblo Rescue Mission for another three months.

Since October 1, SafeSide Recovery has provided addiction support and recovery services to homeless and near-homeless people, alongside existing Pueblo Rescue Mission employees.

The shelter has been in turmoil since a scandal in September that revealed a senior employee stole thousands of dollars from shelter residents who had kept their money in storage at the rescue mission.

As of Monday evening, the Pueblo Police Department (PPD) said the suspect in that felony theft case, 54-year-old Lori Arabie, had not been located.

PPD says officers had previously known Arabie's whereabouts as of Monday morning, however circumstances which could not be shared changed, and detectives are no longer able to find her.

With the passing of the Operating Agreement during Monday night's city council session, it will make SafeSide the official manager and employer of the shelter effective January 1, 2025, which is when the Pueblo Rescue Mission operations will be officially dissolved. The agreement lasts through March 31, 2025.

The agreement also says that the City of Pueblo will compensate SafeSide $53,000 for operating the shelter, and the city will continue to pay all utility, repair, and maintenance costs.

In the meantime, Mayor Graham explained on Monday night during the council's work session that they will be looking for a qualified non-profit organization to come in from the outside and take over operations permanently. However, Graham clarified that the process will be a difficult one, and they don't expect to have many applicants.

City Council members concluded the 6pm hour of their work session by asking Mayor Graham for more information on the different paths that the city could take with the shelter's future.

Graham says that after the New Year, she will bring back data showing what it would look like for a city-run department to be created to handle the shelter, including expenditures for employees and potential contract-work for support.

In addition to that would be other projections on the cost for the city to subsidize the shelter's rent and utilities.

A third option would be that the city doesn't spend any money, and instead looks for a non-profit to take it over.

For the latter, the Mayor again reiterated: "I don't think we're going to have a very successful chance, and I think we're going to be right back here in a year" if that were the case.