New shelter readies for Modesto homeless as MOES closes. But dogs may be left behind

Officials are on track to close the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter — the temporary tent city that is home for about 400 people — by the end of the year as projects that provide more shelter and services for homeless people come online.

A big one is the 182-bed shelter Stanislaus County is building inside The Salvation Army’s Berberian Center. The shelter is low barrier, meaning unlike a traditional shelter it takes partners, pets and possessions, and is expected to open in mid November.

It is part of a $4.9 million project at the center being funded by state money that includes opening an access center in January with comprehensive services for homeless people. The expectation is that after six months of getting help, the people in the shelter would take the next step in their lives, such as moving into permanent housing.

These are big milestones in the local effort to reduce homelessness. But officials face challenges in this transition — and dogs are among the biggest.

Officials estimate there are about 200 pets, primarily dogs, at the outdoor emergency shelter, and officials say the new 18,000-square-foot shelter can accommodate 45 to 50 dogs. That means some of the homeless will have to give up their dogs if they want to go there.

County Deputy Executive Officer Becky Meredith said officials are working on ways to make that work.

That might include the animal shelter or local kennels taking in dogs on a temporary basis and homeless people asking family or friends to look after their dogs or giving them up. Meredith said officials are balancing the need to provide a low-barrier shelter against the need to provide a safe and healthy facility. “We are working through this problem,” she said.

But more than a half dozen homeless people with dogs at the outdoor emergency shelter said they’d rather live on the street than give up their pets.

“She’s my emotional support dog. She helps me stay sane,” said Sally Monaco about her tiny mixed-breed dog, Chiquita. “Instead of being depressed all the time, she makes me laugh. ... She brightens up my life.” Monaco said she’s been homeless for about four years and would go back to living on the streets rather than give up her dog.

But one dog owner said it would be a tough decision, but he might give up his pet to go to the new shelter and end his homelessness.

Officials in February opened the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter under the Ninth Street Bridge in the Tuolumne River Regional Park in response to a September 2018 federal court decision that said prosecuting people for sleeping in parks and other public property when there aren’t beds for them in shelters is cruel and unusual punishment.

The outdoor shelter replaced another temporary fix: Letting the homeless camp in nearby Beard Brook Park from September 2018 through February.

The 182-bed shelter is among several projects expected to increase the number of beds and services for homeless people, including The Salvation Army increasing the number of beds in its emergency shelter at the Berberian Center from 120 to 170 beds, and the county leasing a South Ninth Street motel to provide housing for families.

The goal is to provide a bed for everyone who is homeless, including those at the emergency outdoor shelter. County outreach workers are expected within a week to start interviewing and assessing people at MOES to help them find their best option for shelter.

But officials acknowledge not everyone at the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter will want to go to a brick-and-mortar shelter, which will have more restrictions than the tent city.

“The reality is some people at MOES won’t go,” Deputy City Manager Caluha Barnes said at last week’s meeting of the Tuolumne River Regional Park Commission and its Citizens Advisory Committee.

City and county officials updated commission and committee members on the impending closure of the outdoor shelter and the new projects that are nearing completion.

The commission let Modesto open the shelter provided it was closed and the site restored by the end of the year. City officials say the shelter will close by the end of the year, but the restoration could extend into January or February. The city is expected to ask the commission soon for the additional time for the restoration.

Modesto officials say calls to the police involving homeless people over such bad behavior as sleeping or camping in city parks have plummeted since the city let them camp in Beard Brook and then opened the outdoor emergency shelter.

But many in the community fear all the bad behavior will be back in parks, including the regional park, and elsewhere once the emergency shelter closes. City and county officials addressed that at last week’s regional park meeting.

“Part of achieving enough capacity in the system is so we can do enforcement,” Barnes said.

Meredith cited county CEO Jody Hayes’ three-prong approach of providing facilities, programs and enforcement. She said the facilities and programs are in place to help homeless people, and officials are working on an enforcement plan.

Modesto spokesman Thomas Reeves said in an interview that city and county officials also are looking at designating places where people who refuse to enter shelters could sleep at night. He said they would not be offered services and stressed this would be nothing on the same scale and scope as Beard Brook and the outdoor emergency shelter.

This story was originally published September 29, 2019 at 8:00 AM.