The city wants to replace the behemoth Ridge center with two 75-bed shelters. The proposal is to convert a women's shelter in North Philadelphia into a men's facility and to renovate a building in West Philadelphia into shelter space.
Mintz said negotiations were ongoing for the new facility, which needs to get zoning approval. She declined to identify its location, saying shelters remain a hot-button, "not in my backyard" issue.
"We're trying to be cautious and circumspect as we move forward and not fan the fire," Mintz said.
She said her office would approach the Zoning Board of Adjustments "fairly soon" and, at that time, would disclose the site.
"This has been difficult," Mintz said. "We had a number of properties that we weren't able to move forward on" because of community opposition.
City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, who represents parts of North Philadelphia, said he was aware of the proposal on the table but had not signed off on it yet.
"There are a couple of things I need to have a better understanding of," Clarke said.
Meanwhile, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, whose district includes the neighborhood where the second shelter would be located, said she had been contacted by Mintz and supported her plan.
Across the country, the approach to dealing with homelessness has shifted as communities move away from stopgap solutions such as shelters toward permanent housing.
But the closing of Ridge has exposed the difficulty of finding permanent spots for men confronting joblessness, poverty, mental illness, or addictions - sometimes all at once.
Funding to support permanent housing is getting squeezed.
Philadelphia was awarded $22 million in 2009 from the federal economic-stimulus plan to "rapidly rehouse" people who were either in shelters or at risk of entering one.
