It’s not a shelter, but Turlock’s homeless will have a new option during winter nights
The Turlock Gospel Mission plans to open its day center at night over the next few months to offer homeless people a place to get out of the cold, get something to eat and rest.
And while the homeless can nap, there won’t be any cots or mats. The mission cannot operate the center as a shelter because it does not have fire sprinklers, a state requirement for a shelter.
Still, opening the day center at night as a warming center is expected to provide some relief for homeless people not in shelters.
The mission recently opened the center as a warming center for a week after the city cleared out Broadway Park where homeless people had been keeping their belongings.
The center averaged about 27 homeless people a night. Nearly all were men and the majority spent the whole night, according to mission Executive Director Christian Curby.
“We are seeing an unprecedented level of need,” he said. The mission will let the homeless bring their bikes with trailers and provide them with kennels for their dogs.
The mission also operates a 59-bed shelter for single women and women with children. Curby has said the shelter has averaged 40 to 45 women and children each night but is expected to fill up as the weather gets colder.
When asked why men couldn’t use the empty beds, Curby said doing that “is definitely not an easy lift” and would require hiring more staff, conducting backgrounds checks on the men, ensuring the safety of the women and children, and other work. But Curby said that does not mean the shelter couldn’t in the future be modified for men.
The We Care Program operates Turlock’s second homeless shelter, a 49-bed facility for men, which is full during winter. City officials estimate Turlock has about 250 homeless people.
Stanislaus County will provide the mission with $25,000 to cover the cost of operating the day center at night and for the mission to provide other services to the homeless. An agreement is being drafted and is expected to be completed around mid-January.
This is expected to be a temporary fix as Stanislaus County, Turlock and their nonprofit partners work on long-term solutions. “This is part of a new collaboration with the city, the county and its nonprofits,” said Maryn Pitt, assistant to the city manager for economic development and housing.
And it comes after the county and city faced high-profile incidents involving homeless people.
The county cleared out a Turlock homeless encampment Nov. 15 under the Golden State Boulevard overpass. The county said the encampment of 50 to 75 people encroached upon its right of way and was not safe for the homeless and motorists. The county gave the campers 10 days to leave and offered them services in the days before it cleared out the site.
Homeless people then moved into Turlock parks, and there was friction between the city and the homeless in Broadway Park, with the homeless claiming the city was trying to push them out.
Turlock cleared Broadway Park in late November, after posting the park several times over about a week and offering the homeless help.
But the notices from the Fire Department’s neighborhood services division prominently stated the homeless people were violating the state law against trespassing and were subject to arrest. The notices also stated in less conspicuous type they were violating a city ordinance against storing private property on public property.
City Manager Bob Lawton said this was the first time Turlock had posted an entire park, and the city will do a better job with its notices if there is a next time. Despite the notices’ language, Lawton said it was not Turlock’s intention to clear homeless people from the park and that was not what the city did.
Turlock is allowing homeless people to sleep in its parks at night after a September federal court ruling said it was cruel and unusual punishment to prosecute people for sleeping on public property when they did not have other alternatives.
Turlock continues to enforce its ban against people camping in its parks, but it is letting homeless people set up tents at night as long as they take them down during the day.
This story was originally published December 20, 2018 at 2:46 PM.
