Public invited to check out new Modesto homeless shelter
Officials are holding an open house Tuesday for the new 182-bed homeless shelter, which is expected to open Nov. 15 near downtown Modesto.
The public can hear from officials about the project and tour the shelter, which occupies part of The Salvation Army’s Berberian Center at Ninth and D streets. The open house starts at 1:30 p.m.
Stanislaus County is working with Modesto and The Salvation Army on the shelter, which is part of a $4.9 million project that includes relocating the army’s operations from Seventh and I streets to the Berberian Center as well as opening an access center that will provide comprehensive services for homeless people.
The access center is expected to open in January.
Unlike traditional shelters, the new shelter will take pets, partners and possessions, though there are limits for the pets and possessions. For instance, the shelter can accommodate about 50 dogs that have been spayed or neutered and have all of their shots.
People living at the shelter will receive services to help them take the next step in their lives, such as moving into permanent housing.
The impending closure of the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter — a tent city of about 400 people underneath the Ninth Street Bridge in the Tuolumne River Regional Park — remains on schedule for Nov. 30.
Outreach workers are working with tent city residents to find them a bed, such as at the new shelter, or other placement, said Thomas Reeves, a Modesto spokesman.
Reeves said the county’s calculations show there is enough new capacity coming online to accommodate the people leaving the tent city so they don’t have to go back to living in alleys, parks and parking lots. That capacity includes the 50 beds The Salvation Army recently added to its 120-bed emergency shelter at The Berberian Center.
The army also has 36 beds in two transitional living programs at the center.
Reeves said city and county officials continue to look at designating places where people who refuse to enter shelters could sleep at night. They would not be offered services or allowed to set up camp or live at these sites.
