Officials wait for final approval before opening 182-bed homeless shelter in Modesto
Officials may not start opening the new 182-bed shelter with services as expected on Monday.
Stanislaus County Deputy Executive Officer Becky Meredith said as of 5 p.m. Friday officials here were still waiting for The Salvation Army’s Western Territorial Headquarters in Southern California to give its final approval to the agreement for the local Salvation Army to operate the shelter.
The 182-bed shelter is a partnership among Stanislaus County, Modesto and The Salvation Army.
She said the signed agreement could come in over the weekend. “All the teams stand ready to begin on Monday in the event something is signed and received over the weekend,” she said in a text message. She said if the opening does not start Monday then she expects it would start as soon as Tuesday.
It is expected to take about two weeks for all the residents to move in.
This comes as officials start closing the Modesto Emergency Outdoor Shelter — a tent city of about 450 residents underneath the Ninth Street Bridge in the Tuolumne River Regional Park. The city opened the shelter in February as a temporary solution until more facilities and services for the homeless came online, including the 182-bed shelter.
Meredith said the city expects to close the outdoor shelter Dec. 2. Outreach workers have been working with tent city residents to find them housing and shelter options in addition to the 182-bed shelter, and Meredith said residents have started leaving the tent city.
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 2:55 PM.
