The City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) Homeless Services Division is pleased to announce the release of the New Arrivals Shelter Operations of City-Owned, City-Leased Facilities Re-Release RFP #10152.  DFSS seeks applications for the operation of emergency shelters for New Arrivals who are experiencing homelessness in Chicago. This RFP is an update to the initial RFP #9335 issued in August 2023, and includes sites for which DFSS either made no award under #9335 or which have been newly added to the New Arrivals shelter system since the prior RFP release.

The Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) seeks applications for an Administrator(s) to establish and manage the New Arrivals Meal Program: providing high quality, culturally congruent, and nutritious meals for the City’s New Arrivals shelter system. The New Arrivals Meal Program will serve New Arrivals residing in temporary City-coordinated shelters across a variety of settings citywide (e.g., Park District facilities, decommissioned schools, hotels), as well as New Arrivals at temporary respite sites (e.g. Police Stations).

The New Arrivals Meal Program Administrator(s) will be responsible for: 

1. Ensuring that meals, snacks, hydration, and related nutrition supplies and equipment are provided to New Arrivals Shelters and respite sites citywide (or within a geography as specified by DFSS),
2. Oversight and quality control/assurance related to meal delivery, as specified in this RFP for New Arrivals, and 
3. Facilitating food safety training for staff handling or serving food as well as resident nutrition training.  

The goals of this RFP include:

• Providing dignified, culturally congruent, and nutritious food that meet the diverse tastes and needs of customers based on their cultural identity.
• Promoting the health and well-being of all clients through the provision of frequent and nutrient rich food. 
• Avoiding adverse health conditions - New Arrivals have diverse health needs and the provision of healthy meals prevents exacerbating current ailments, prevents chronic disease, and reduces health care utilization. 

The term of contract(s) executed under this RFP will be from December 1, 2023 – January 15, 2024. Based on need, availability of funds, and contractor performance, DFSS may extend this term for up to five times for six-month terms. Anticipated funding per award will be based on a per client per day meal cost of $13-$17 and there will be up to two awards for this RFP. 

Additionally, to embed local knowledge and involvement in the New Arrivals Meal Program, awarded providers are encouraged to subcontract meals from local business or community organizations. 

For more information, please refer to the application posted on the City of Chicago’s eProcurement page under current bids: www.cityofchicago.org/eProcurement - Solicitation #9785

A NOTE ABOUT THE CITY’S E-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM:

For those who have not done business with the City of Chicago before, registration in iSupplier is the first step to ensuring your agency’s ability to conduct business with the City of Chicago and DFSS. Please allow five to seven days for your registration to be processed. Current contractors only need to start an application via their existing iSupplier/eProcurement account. 

RFP DUE DATE/SUBMISSION LOCATION:

December 1st, 2023

12:00, NOON CST

Proposals must be submitted via on-line application.

E-mailed or faxed proposals will not be accepted.

PRE-PROPOSAL WEBINAR

A Pre-Proposal Webinar will be held on October 18, 2023 at 1pm. Attendance is not mandatory but is advised.

Please register prior to the webinar’s start using this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_F4_J-1t9TZasKXii3TFEYQ

The City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) Homeless Services Division is pleased to announce the release of the Homeless Services New Arrivals Shelter Operations of City Owned, City-Leased or Licensed Facilities RFP #9335.

DFSS seeks applications for the operation of emergency shelters for New Arrivals who are experiencing homelessness in Chicago. DFSS seeks proposals from agencies who can operate shelters at specific City-owned, City-leased, or licensed facilities that are currently being operated as shelters. Shelter programs will provide a safe, accessible place to stay for New Arrivals experiencing homelessness to support them in moving toward stable housing.

To highlight some of the key program requirements, the ideal Respondent will be able to: provide a safe shelter environment that they can operate and staff 24/7, hire enough qualified staff with Spanish speaking capabilities to meet the shelter staff to resident ratio requirement, provide 3 meals a day for each resident, provide services for building maintenance and safety (e.g., janitorial and snow removal services), coordinate with partners and providers for the provision of support and resettlement services, provide on-site services and linkages to support physical and behavioral health, provide access to case management, and coordinate with the Emergency Operations Center for shelter oversight collaboration and reporting.

Anticipated funding per award will be based on a bed rate of $22-35 per night and there will be up to 15 awards for this RFP. Respondents may apply to operate more than one shelter facility but will need to submit a separate application for each facility. For more information and to apply, please refer to the application posted on the City of Chicago’s eProcurement page.

Applications are due on Friday, October 6, 2023, at 12:00pm.

Proposals must be submitted via on-line application. E-mailed or faxed proposals will not be accepted.

A Pre-Proposal Webinar will be held on Thursday, September 07, 2023, at 12:00pm – 2:00pm.

Please register prior to the webinar’s start using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gBKDBB4RRU-Lzq0h6vtKOw

DFSS is offering site visits at all facilities starting on Monday, 9/11/23 through Thursday, 9/14/23. The schedule for site visits is under the “Site Visits” section of the RFP. It is highly encouraged for potential respondents to attend site visits for facilities of interest. You can register for shelter site visits by filling out this 3-minute survey by EOD on Thursday, September 07, 2023: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/C5N65XP

For those who cannot attend the live scheduled Webinar, a recording of the completed Webinar will be available on the DFSS website after the webinar time and date listed above. Programmatic questions should be sent to Daniel Castañeda at Daniel.Castaneda2@cityofchicago.org.

For non-programmatic questions about the application process, please call: 312-744-HELP (4357). For those who have not done business with the City of Chicago before, registration in iSupplier is the first step to ensuring your agency’s ability to conduct business with the City of Chicago and DFSS. Please allow five to seven business days for your registration to be processed. All vendors must have a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) and an IRS W9 for registration and confirmation of vendor business information.