An effort to organize a new homeless shelter following a dispute between Butler County officials and the nonprofit running the county’s only winter relief center has been put on hold, but a new shelter will still be ready to open on short notice.

The contract dispute between the county and the Grace Youth Family Foundation resulted in $35,000 in public money being withheld from the foundation’s winter homeless shelter program, threatening its operations.

But that changed last week when the foundation’s owner, Bill Halle, announced that the organization had raised enough money to avoid reducing services at its Winter Relief Center at Center and McKean streets.

After that announcement, organizers of the alternate shelter said they would hold off on opening their program for now, but would still be ready to step forward if needed.

“We are definitely the backup plan,” said Dana Perkins, one of the effort’s organizers. “We’re ready to go. If need be, we could open in a day; two days probably at the most.”

The second shelter, which would be staffed by about 30 volunteers organized by Perkins, would be run by members of the Local Housing Options Team — a collective of 26 organizations that work with homeless clients on a daily basis.

Perkins said organizers this week would select a site for the shelter. He said the group was evaluating three locations.

Joyce Ainsworth, county director of human services, said discussions over the county’s financial contribution to a new shelter had been put on the “back burner” after the news broke that the winter relief center’s operations would continue unchanged.

“There is no longer a need to actively pursue an alternative plan for winter shelter services,” Ainsworth said in a news release.

She said people seeking emergency shelter would be referred to the Winter Relief Center, though the county still would withhold its contribution to the program.

Ainsworth said the county was in favor of holding the new center in readiness if need be.

“There is the fear that something might happen that we might need a second one,” she said.

Ainsworth said the county has no plans to use the $35,000 withheld from the foundation, citing the ongoing state budget impasse.

Halle said last week that the foundation had received about $20,000 in private donations for the shelter. That’s enough to get the winter shelter up and running, and fund the program into January, he said.

The shelter runs on a total budget of about $60,000, Halle said, meaning the foundation has more work to do to keep the program open for the rest of its five month schedule.

“It’s community support that’s been the key,” Halle said. “We received a lot of handwritten notes of encouragement” along with the donations.

Halle said the foundation had reduced staffing for the program’s reporting services and was limiting when and from whom the shelter takes referrals to cut costs.

“It doesn’t affect the guests at all,” he said of the changes. “The guests have never seen any difference whatsoever, and that was always the goal.”

The shelter houses about 12 people each night.

The contract dispute began in October, when the foundation refused to sign a contract county officials say is required, but Halle said would require the organization to stop its faith-based hiring practices, sign over copyrights and ownership of its program, and provide county officials with information like donor lists that aren’t associated with its shelter program.

Halle said the shelter is one of about 25 programs that the nonprofit foundation runs.