Modesto poised to move forward on one-stop center for homeless

Modesto could take a big step toward establishing a one-stop center for the homeless, where they would access such services as treatment for mental illness, signing up for benefits or getting into permanent housing.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider allocating $250,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding for the project.

Community and Economic Development Director Cindy Birdsill said with the council’s approval Tuesday, the next step would be for staff to come back to the council with a plan to establish the facility, which is being called a Homeless Access Center. Birdsill said that should be in November, and it should take two to three months after that for the center to open.

Officials also are working on opening what is called a low-barrier shelter consisting of 20 to 25 converted sheds that each would have two beds. Unlike traditional ones, low-barrier shelters take in couples and pets. Birdsill said the goal is for the center to open about the same time as the Homeless Access Center.

These efforts are part of Focus on Prevention, a communitywide initiative Stanislaus County launched about 18 months ago to find lasting solutions to homelessness. The center and low-barrier shelter will require more approvals from the council and Board of Supervisors to move forward.

The plan is for both facilities to be placed next to The Salvation Army’s Haig and Isabel Berberian Shelter and Transitional Living Center at Ninth and D streets, near downtown. The center operates a year-round 100-bed emergency homeless shelter. The low-barrier shelter would provide temporary housing, and its clients would seek help at the Homeless Access Center.

While Modesto would provide the funding to establish the center, it would be operated by staff from the county and nonprofits that work with the homeless. And city officials have said Modesto does not have the money to set up or run the low-barrier shelter and would look to the county and nonprofits to do that.

These projects are the first one-stop homeless center and the first low-barrier shelter in the county.

A city report states the $250,000 for the Homeless Access Center would cover such costs as purchasing and relocating a 4,800-square-foot modular office building the county has been leasing as well as site preparation work, including grading and paving and water and sewer lines.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Modesto poised to move forward on one-stop center for homeless."