City Hall is preparing to shell out $615,000 to Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) and other nonprofits or churches that have agreed to provide space to shelter the homeless during inclement weather, particularly the cold weather period that runs now through mid-April.

City Council was to meet at 2 p.m. Thursday for the purpose of introducing an ordinance to enable Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration to spend the money with applicants.

It is not clear whether council would hold another special meeting this month to authorize the spending on shelter services or wait until the full council gathers for the next Organizational Development Committee meeting set for Monday, Nov. 8 or at its next regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 14.

The proposed locations have not been identified.

However, the Free Press has been told that the funding would be used to provide up to 150 beds during the coldest time of the year when year-round shelters that CARITAS, Salvation Army and other groups operate are mostly full.

Whether 150 beds will be sufficient to meet demand this year as evictions and utility cutoffs ramp up remains uncertain.

CCC has managed the city’s shelter operations in recent years. Last year, CCC agreed to expand its Housing Resource Center and Youth Hub in Shockoe Valley to create a year-round shelter the city would

support, but dropped the plan in June. Richmond began advertising for partners to operate potentially multiple inclement weather shelters after CCC released the funding the city planned to provide for the expansion.

The city’s goal has been to have the cold weather overflow shelter up and running by November, a month later than a longstanding council policy requires. The city does not directly operate shelters, but pays nonprofits or faith groups to do so.

Before advertising began, Sherrill Hampton, city director of housing and community development, told council that the city had $3 million to spend over two years to support such operations, or about five times more than the amount being made available.