Salvation Army keeping its Modesto homeless shelter open year-round

Forty-year-old Lori was one of the dozens of homeless people who lined up Tuesday afternoon to check into The Salvation Army shelter near downtown Modesto. They would get a shower, dinner, a clean bed and a safe place to spend the night.

“That is my favorite part – the bed,” said Lori, who declined to give her last name but said she’s been homeless off and on for a dozen years.

Tuesday’s scene is common every year from November through April, when the army opens its 100-bed emergency shelter at its Haig and Isabel Berberian Shelter and Transitional Living Center at Ninth and D streets. But this year, the army did not close the shelter in late April, as it planned. Instead, it is operating the shelter year-round.

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Capt. Dwaine Breazeale, who with his wife, Capt. Deb Breazeale, became the corps officers of The Salvation Army’s Modesto Citadel and Stanislaus County coordinators in February after serving with the army in Fresno. “It’s the scriptural thing to do. And for us, it’s the loving thing to do.”

Breazeale said it made sense to keep the emergency shelter open because the Berberian Center already operates year-round because of its transitional living and other programs, which have 56 beds. He added the Citadel – whose operations include social services, food programs and the Berberian Center – also is using savings from having seven open positions among its 55 budgeted positions to keep the shelter open. He said that means Citadel staff members have been asked to take on more responsibilities.

The emergency shelter has been running from near to beyond capacity for the past month, with the staff setting up cots to handle the overflow. The 100-bed shelter offers 75 to 80 beds for men and the rest for women. It changes the balance based on the need.

“I think it’s a great thing because it helps with capacity,” said Kevin Carroll, executive director of the Modesto Gospel Mission, which operates a year-round 100-bed shelter for men and a year-round 35-bed shelter for women and their children. “And I think that’s huge, to have another shelter open during the summertime.”

He said the Gospel Mission’s men’s shelter is operating at about 70 percent capacity while the women and children’s shelter is full.

The Salvation Army’s decision comes as Stanislaus County works with the county’s cities and the rest of the community on Focus on Prevention, which aims to find long-term solutions to homelessness. And there is a huge need for more housing for the homeless.

The most recent countywide count of the homeless turned up 1,434 people, including 1,051 in Modesto. Volunteers conducted the count in late January on behalf of the Stanislaus Housing & Support Services Collaborative, which consists of government agencies, nonprofits, faith-based groups and others that provide housing and services for the homeless. The count includes homeless in shelters.

The collaborative released the count results this month. The counts have been conducted since 2005 and have tallied 1,156 to 1,800 homeless people. The counts are snapshots of homelessness and should not be considered definitive. For instance, the counts won’t find someone sleeping on a friend’s couch, or in a garage or backyard.

Still, several of the homeless lined up outside the Berberian Center on Tuesday afternoon said it was great news that there are more beds for the homeless.

“I’ve worn out every couch that I could,” said Aaron Hodges, who said he struggles with alcohol and was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. “I’ve slept outdoors. I’ve burned all my bridges. I think it’s beautiful (that the shelter is open). Otherwise, I’d have no other place to go.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Salvation Army keeping its Modesto homeless shelter open year-round."