On November 18 of last year, Mendocino County's emergency winter shelter opened at the former North State Street Fire Station, 1800 North State Street, Ukiah. This is the fourth year the shelter program has been in operation. The first winter (1999-2000) the shelter was located at St. Mary's church on South Oak Street, Ukiah. Father Hans Ruygt, St. Mary's parish priest, agreed to permit St. Mary's parish hall to be used for that purpose.
The process of identifying an appropriate shelter site had been arduous. More than 20 potential sites had been evaluated by staff of the Ford Street Project, the program's lead agency, assisted by a steering committee composed of representatives from a variety of community agencies as well as private citizens. A number of the sites seemed promising but various obstacles (such as cost, access to public transportation, proximity to residential areas, etc.) precluded their being used. On one occasion, a potential shelter was located, but within days of opening objections by neighbors forced termination of the project.
For the past three winters, the Ukiah City Council has authorized use of the North State Street Fire Station as a shelter (since St. Mary's parish hall was no longer available). Prior to its use as a shelter, the fire station served as a storage site and vehicle repair facility. The Mendocino-Lake County Chapter of the American Red Cross occupies offices in the building as well.
This is the final winter the shelter will be housed at the fire station. Ford Street plans to construct a permanent homeless shelter on property recently acquired on Brush Street, Ukiah. The permanent shelter will operate year-round; projected opening date is July, 2003.
The winter shelter program is administered by the Ford Street Project, Mark Rohloff, Executive Director. In addition to shelter services, Ford Street provides residential facilities for individuals and families, treatment for drug and alcohol dependency, job development and other employment-related services.
Last November, just prior to the shelter's opening, Laura Golino de Lovato was hired as shelter coordinator. She was employed previously by the West Company and Ukiah Community Center. Hiring of counseling staff followed.
Ford Street requires that two counselors always be present at the shelter. They work shifts of 4 pm to midnight, and midnight to 8 am. Clients are admitted to the shelter at 5 pm and must leave by 7:30 am. Shelter staff are augmented by counselors from the Mental Health Department who are present, most evenings, from 5 to 7 pm.
Special emphasis was placed on staff training this year. Prior to opening, training of approximately 12 hours duration was conducted, covering such topics as: shelter operations, community resources, conflict resolution, child protective and adult protective services, the role of law enforcement, crisis intervention, health concerns and resources, and mental health services. Training in CPR and first aid was provided by the American Red Cross.
The North State Street shelter consists of a large bay of approximately 2,000 square feet, a smaller bay and a kitchen area. Single men and women sleep in the large bay; families sleep in the smaller bay. Capacity is 46 persons. The fire station was not intended to accommodate people; fire trucks were its projected occupants. Conditions are spartan at best.
Restrooms consist of six portable toilets located outside the shelter, one of which is wheelchair accessible. This winter, two hand-washing units were added for improved hygiene (much appreciated by shelter guests!).
Shelter residents sleep on cots, which must be considered an amenity, as some shelters require guests to sleep on the floor using sleeping bags. This year's supply of cots are aluminum-framed and substantially more durable than in prior years, when as many as 50 broke down over the winter. Bedding is provided by the shelter.
Support for the shelter from the City of Ukiah has been consistently generous. The City Council, City Manager's office, Planning Commission and Planning Department staff have extended themselves to Ford Street personnel, enabling the project to succeed. Planning Department staff updated the city's zoning ordinance to clarify where shelters could be sited. City staff ensured Ford Street management were conversant with use permit and building and fire code requirements. Funds for constructing the new permanent shelter will come primarily from City of Ukiah redevelopment funds.
Each year the shelter has been open, the county Board of Supervisors has allocated $50,000 for operating expenses. Without these funds, the shelter could not exist. Staff of the Department of Social Services were instrumental in overcoming the many obstacles involved in implementing the program, and have played a key role as liaison between the Board and Ford Street management.
A number of the residents require shelter on only a temporary basis and have plans to obtain housing or employment in the immediate future. Several clients are, in fact, employed at the time this is written, but have been unable to find affordable housing.
However, many residents exhibit a range of disabilities and limitations that significantly contribute to their inability to find shelter, and may be regarded as long-term homeless. Some are physically disabled, others suffer from various emotional or psychiatric impairments; a number manifest the effects of long-term drug or alcohol dependency.
Occasionally seniors are encountered, and it is not uncommon to find parents with young children housed in the shelter, sometimes for extended periods.
When the shelter was initially proposed, objections were voiced that it would attract destitute and disabled persons from outside the county. However, experience to date has been the great majority (over 90 percent) of shelter residents are from Mendocino County.
The growth of the homeless population nationwide, and attendant expansion of shelters in recent years, are attributable to a variety of factors, exacerbated by conditions and circumstances in California found in both rural and urban areas. Among these are:
* A substantial increase in population.
* Housing costs that have increased dramatically while the supply of low and moderate income units has not kept pace with demand.
* The recent economic downturn has hindered the already tenuous ability of the unskilled and semi-skilled to find and retain employment.
* Substance abuse has become pervasive among a growing segment of our population.
* Our educational and training programs have not equipped those with marginal skills to be competitive.
* Our mental health programs have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of the homeless mentally ill on the street.
* An accumulation of factors, some indicated above, has contributed to family instability.
Should these trends continue, and intensify, shelters in even modestly-sized communities may become commonplace, and shelter life a not infrequent experience for many of our citizens.
In addition to protecting the homeless from exposure to the elements, the shelter has important subsidiary purposes.
* It enables public health and welfare agencies to establish contact with a transient, hard-to-reach population and offer useful, sometimes essential services.
* It serves as a point of entry for the disabled and those alienated from mainstream society, allowing them access to restorative services and relationships.
* The shelter can offer respite to those suffering severe depression, emotional trauma or interpersonal conflict, enabling them to begin the process of recovery.
* For some clients, the shelter can serve as an initial step in restoring an optimal level of functioning, enabling them to develop a greater sense of self-worth, while reinforcing the conviction that they have the opportunity and responsibility themselves to contribute to society.
From the shelter's inception, Ford Street staff have encouraged community health and social services agencies to provide on-site services to shelter residents. Their intention is not only to assist clients in addressing the immediate circumstances of homelessness, but to offer restorative and rehabilitative services that enable them to reach their full potential. This endeavor has been facilitated through a close working relationship with the Ukiah Community Center.
Staff of the Community Center are present at the shelter on a regular basis, to assist clients in establishing eligibility for low-income housing programs and provide information and referral services on a variety of health and welfare programs and services.
The Mendocino Community Health Clinic and Public Health Department also provide services on-site. A physician's assistant is available at the shelter one day a week. The Mental Health Department has assigned staff to assist shelter clients dealing with stress, depression and various behavioral disorders.
Each winter the shelter has been in operation, the range and effectiveness of services has improved. When the permanent shelter opens this summer, further enhancements are planned, with prospects that eventually some agencies will locate staff at the site.
A principal element of the shelter's success is involvement of volunteers in the program. When the first shelter opened at St. Mary's church, parishioners formed a Hospitality Committee whose primary purpose was to augment food provided shelter guests by Ford Street. During the course of the winter, additional volunteers from other Ukiah area churches joined, enabling the committee to serve breakfast and evening meals, seven days a week.
When the shelter moved to the North State Street Fire Station, the committee continued to serve evening meals on-site, although breakfast was provided at the Ukiah Community Center. This arrangement continues today. Meals are supplemented with sandwiches provided by Ford Street.
Although church members form the nucleus of the committee, a growing number of non-affiliated volunteers participate. Laura Golino de Lovato is enthusiastic in her praise of the committee, commenting on the nutritional benefit of the food provided. Of equal value is the expression of concern and support from the community and the ensuing heightening of morale and self-esteem of clients. She surmised this may account for the willingness of shelter guests to perform a variety of tasks in connection with maintenance and operation of the shelter. Some of her most devoted volunteers are shelter residents.
Volunteers have also made a major contribution through participation in the Shelter Advisory Committee, which is composed of agency representatives and private citizens who meet bi-monthly. They serve in an advisory capacity to Ford Street staff and have played an indispensable role in planning the shelter program and gaining community support.
In addition to contributions of the Hospitality Committee, local residents, churches and businesses have generously supported the shelter and warrant Mark Rohloff's characterization of the program as a "community effort." Individuals and faith-based groups have made substantial monetary contributions. Sleeping bags have been donated. Coats, socks and other items of apparel have been provided. Long-distance telephone calls have been donated enabling shelter residents to contact relatives and friends. Restaurants, markets and bakeries have donated food such as fried chicken, pizza, hearty soup, milk and cheesecake.
Considering the obstacles encountered in locating a shelter site acceptable to the city and nearby residents and businesses, Ford Street staff pay close attention to relations with neighbors. Discussions of shelter operations are held periodically with proprietors of businesses located adjacent to the current shelter. (There are no private residences in the vicinity of the North State Street Fire Station.)
The primary complaint in the past was that, on occasion, shelter clients loitered on the premises of nearby businesses. Ford Street therefore instituted perimeter "patrols" to discourage loitering. This seems to have addressed the problem effectively. At the use permit hearing for the 2002-2003 winter shelter, adjoining businesses raised no objection to its presence at the North State Street Fire Station.
Discussions have been conducted with neighbors of the new permanent shelter site to assure they are aware of plans, obtain their recommendations for the facility and address their concerns. To ensure lines of communication exist, neighbors are invited to serve on the Shelter Advisory Committee.
At the use permit hearing for the permanent shelter, before the Ukiah Planning Commission, neighbors expressed support for the shelter program but preferred it be located in another area. The Planning Commission was attentive to the views expressed and, while approving the use permit for the permanent shelter at the Brush Street site, added several mitigation measures to alleviate potential adverse effects on the neighborhood.
Even prior to opening the initial shelter, in the fall of 1999, Ford Street staff considered possibilities of establishing a permanent, year-round, multi-service shelter. In the spring of 2002, Ford Street was awarded a state grant of $500,000 for purchase of the site on Brush Street, in close proximity to the existing Ford Street residential facility and administrative offices.
The site is spacious, comprising three acres, providing Ford Street with ample space to construct a permanent shelter and ancillary facilities. The site is also advantageous in that the shelter will be on the periphery of a residential neighborhoodÑnot within it. The Brush Street area currently has a "commercial" zoning designation.
In addition to the city redevelopment funds already allocated to the project, prospects for obtaining additional construction funds were enhanced with passage of Proposition 46 in last November's election. The state issued a request for proposal in January, and Ford Street will apply. This is particularly welcome as the state's budget crisis creates uncertainties over availability of other funding.
The permanent shelter is intended to accommodate 64 persons, although capacity could be expanded, depending on need and availability of funds. In addition to shelter, Ford Street plans to offer a range of social and health services on-site.
The projected closing date of the winter shelter located in the North State Street Fire Station is April 15. Hours of operation are 5 pm to 7:30 am daily. MTA bus tickets for shelter residents are available at the Ukiah Community Center.
Those wishing to volunteer at the shelter or to make donations should contact Laura Golino de Lovato at 462-1934.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2003
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited