KOTS Contract Awarded

The Key West City Commission, in a unanimous vote Monday evening, approved a new management company for the Keys Temporary Overnight Shelter, or KOTS.

On October 1st, the City will enter a three-year agreement with Cornerstone Resource Alliance, Inc. to manage the homeless shelter. The previous management organization – the Southernmost Homeless Assistance League – had managed the shelter for several years. In July, the City and SHAL agreed that their management would conclude at the end of September.

There were two organizations vying for the contract and a selection committee rated Cornerstone highest.

Adding continuity to the contract, Elicia Pintabona, who has served as executive director of the shelter for several years, will continue in that role.

“This allows me to continue my mission in this community,” she told the commission, “with our clients and staff and the community we serve.”

She noted that Cornerstone’s seven-person board was a knowledgeable group that includes an attorney, a grant writer, and a philanthropist with experience building successful homeless shelters and other forms of affordable housing.

Pintabona told the commissioners that she expects to see positive change under Cornerstone as they strive to create a new facility. The new shelter, which has already been designed, will fit in the footprint of the existing shelter on Stock Island under an agreement with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

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