New Emergency Shelter Grand Opening Celebration

Wednesday January 30, 2008

11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Tour the new shelter and join us for lunch,

317 E. 15th Street, Merced, CA. 95341

(Corner of 15th and D Street)

RSVP to Katie at kluxon@mercedcaa.org

January 1, 2008

Dear Community Members: 

It has come to my attention that many questions have been raised in regards to the new permanent homeless shelter, which will be called the “D Street Shelter”, located at 317 E. 15th Street, Merced, the services that will be provided, and it’s opening date. This message is my attempt to answer and clarify some of the questions.
 
To our dismay, the new permanent shelter that was expected to open on December 14, 2007, has yet to be completed. This is an utter disappointment and the only explanation I can offer is the two acts of vandalism and the fact that the project has seen three construction managers in the past eight months. We are pushing very hard to complete the project and are looking towards the end of January for a completion date. Besides applying pressure and repeating the need, there is very little we can do.
 
The new shelter will serve a total of 60 homeless men and women daily. Each person can stay for a total of 150 calendar days per year. Once someone checks in, their bed will be secure for 30 days, should the need continue they will be able to sign up again. Successful homeless programs use this model and we think it makes sense.
 
Yes, everyone is right when they say “COTS” is closing. The “D Street Shelter” will replace “COTS” and provide the same services as “COTS” did.  These services will be available daily during the evening from 4pm to 9pm and during the morning from 7am to 10am. Let me be clear in stating that these services will only be available to serve the people staying in the shelter. In the past we have knowingly served people who have had no desire to receive the assistance they needed.  Some are not homeless, but simply want to receive the services, i.e. showers, laundry, computers, free of charge that COTS provided. In an effort to help the homeless, we will limit services to the people registered for beds. Our limited funding and our experience with trying to mix people who have a bed with people who do not, dictates that we organize the services provided in this way. We will refer all of those that we cannot help to any other service agency that might be available to assist them.
 
The new “D Street Shelter” will provide computers, laundry, dinner, showers, beds, mental health services, rental assistance, and health services. We will continue to expand upon these services as funding allows.
 
For the past 5 years I have spent a major portion of my life fighting to secure a long-term shelter for Merced County’s homeless population. During that process, I am proud to say that we were able to secure the funds to accomplish it. This was not my job, but my passion. Only 2% of this Agency’s operating dollars come from homeless program grants annually ($300,000). A majority of the work we did to complete this project was done pro-bono. With three year-round shelters, homeless programs are a challenge to say the least and they regularly end the budget year in fiscal jeopardy. We are proud of the services we provide to the homeless and the caring staff that serve them. The numbers we serve indicate the level of respect and help we are able to provide the homeless in our county.
 
 This Agency remains committed to operating the homeless programs we have started and we hope to secure additional funds to expand the services at the new “D Street Shelter”. We cannot do this alone; it will take the support of the community to make this happen. 
 
I hope this answers some of the questions you may have and we look forward to the opening of an additional 60 homeless beds in 2008.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Brenda Callahan-Johnson
Executive Director