Good Samaritan Mission asks town/county for $139k for shelter, meals

The Teton County/Town of Jackson FY27 human-services funding packet includes a request from Good Samaritan Mission for $69,500 from the county and $69,500 from the town (18% of its stated $770,000 annual budget), spread across crisis services, employment support, food security, physical health support, and a small relocation program. Details are in the county staff report: Good Samaritan Mission Funding Request Staff Report.

From a business-and-downtown-operations angle, this is the kind of spending that shows up indirectly but immediately: fewer people in crisis camping in doorways, fewer emergency calls, and more stable sidewalks for customers and staff—especially during peak visitor season when every disruption compounds. The ask also supports a recuperative care partnership with St. John’s Health (rides to appointments, prescribed meals), which is a practical alternative to discharging people back onto the street.

The organization says its average shelter stay dropped from ~60 days (2023) to ~28 days after adding a case-management team in 2025—basically, more active help getting people into work and housing, faster. If commissioners and councilmembers fund this, they should treat that “days-to-exit” metric as the scoreboard and require it to be reported regularly alongside basic counts (meals served, pantry use), so the community can tell whether dollars are reducing visible instability or just warehousing it.