Buck Wargo
CITY HALL -- Glendale's homeless will be able to get out of the cold
and rain as early as Saturday while their new winter shelter is being
completed.
The Glendale YMCA, 140 N. Louise St., will be used as the city's
cold-weather shelter until a temporary, steel-framed acrylic building is
installed by the city at San Fernando Road and Chevy Chase Drive.
The opening of the shelter, however, is not automatic. On Dec. 16,
shelters across Los Angeles County will open every night between 6 and 7
p.m., but shelters will open before that date if there is bad weather.
Under the program funded with federal money, shelters can open only if
the forecast call for temperatures below 40 degrees and a 50% chance of
rain, Stacy Rowe, who oversees homeless programs for the city.
Despite cold temperatures earlier this week, Rowe said there was
nothing that could be done to bring the chronic homeless out of the
elements.
"Of course I am concerned, but we don't have the funding," Rowe said.
"Thankfully it is dry, but the wind is a problem for folks."
Homeless who want to go through a case management program can find
shelter in transitional housing funded through the city.
Site preparation work for the temporary shelter may begin next week,
Rowe said. The building could be up by the first or second week of
December.
Glendale will be paying up to $225,000 for the structure that replaces
the National Guard Armory. Complaints from library patrons, businesses
and seniors caused the city to find another location away from downtown.
For information on homeless shelters in Los Angeles County, call (800)
548-6047.
