November’s heavy rainfall and drop in temperature, combined with a prolonged bitter economic climate, prompted a couple of local homeless shelters to open their doors early to provide a place for the Central Coast’s homeless population to come in from the cold.
Two shelters in the North County—the Bridge House in Lompoc and the Good Samaritan Shelter in Santa Maria—dug out-of-pocket to begin offering their facilities as warming centers in mid-November.
“We are trying to reach everybody we possibly can this year,” Bridge House Shelter Services Manager Chris Moody said. “We don’t want anybody freezing to death.”
The warming centers are activated on days when the weather is expected to drop below 35 degrees, there exists at least a 40 percent chance of rain, or after two straight days of a 50 percent chance of rain.
Good Samaritan Director of Operations Robyn De Rohan said though their warming center officially opened Dec. 1, the shelter didn’t turn away those who showed up on the rainy days in November.
These centers not only offer people a safe, heated place to sleep, but also hot meals and access to showers and clean clothes. The facilities welcome pets as well, and aren’t requiring identification for entry.
“The whole intent is to give people a place to stay out of the extreme weather,” De Rohan said. “So we’re basically relaxing the rules a little bit to get them off the street.”
Moody said the Bridge House can accommodate 56 people a night and opens its doors at 5 p.m. This year, she said, bus rides to the center are provided free of charge, thanks to the city of Lompoc transit agency.
Santa Barbara County allocates funding for these centers each year during what is called Winter Shelter Time, which starts Dec. 1.
Even though opening its doors early generated a need for extra funding, staffers at the shelters told the Sun it was a no-brainer. Cold weather in Lompoc is magnified by the city’s proximity to the ocean, Moody said, and in rainy weather those temperatures can be fatal.
Moody said the funding gap was partially absorbed by donations from a number of local churches and individuals. But the facility is in constant need of volunteers and donations to maintain available services for the community—county funding for the centers is expected to last only through December.
This year, the county has allocated approximately $51,781 to the nonprofit group Bringing Our Communities Home to operate the warming centers. This amount, however, will only provide for 30 days of operation without any additional funding, according to a memorandum from the organization to the Board of Supervisors.
If fundraising goals are not met by any one of the regional centers in the county, that project will discontinue operations, the letter said. However, if costs are lower due to low attendance, resources can be shifted from one center to account for higher attendance in another.
Moody said she’s already seeing a steady increase in attendance since they opened their doors on weather-qualifying days.
To keep these centers going throughout the season, both the Bridge House and Good Samaritan are asking for donations of food, blankets, towels, and pet cages.
For more information, Contact Bridge House at 737-9449 or Good Samaritan at 346-8185.
This article appears in Dec 2-9, 2010.