Winter shelter thriving

DOWNTOWN — A year after closing its doors amid a controversial stay in Burbank, the regional homeless shelter moved back to the National Guard Armory in Glendale, where despite seeing a 74% rise in the number of clients, operators reported a smooth winter season.

The 150-capacity refuge in the 200 block of East Colorado Street served 958 homeless people between Dec. 1 and March 2, up from 549 in 2008-09. The typical nightly average of about 100 occupants skyrocketed to roughly 165, officials said.

Operated by EIMAGO, a subsidiary of the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles, the shelter provides sleeping accommodations, shower facilities and meals. The uptick in need played out across the county, as the organization saw an average of 822 nightly clients at four facilities despite contracting for 660 beds, said the Rev. Andy Bales, Union Rescue Mission’s chief executive.

“There’s an incredible continued need, and we haven’t seen the end of it,” Bales said.

Among the people who sought sanctuary at the armory were those evicted from their homes, a young woman who recently moved out of her parents’ home, a man who every day commuted on foot to his job in Hollywood and a woman who underwent two surgical treatments for cancer over the winter season, he said.

Still, shelter officials opted to close its doors two weeks ahead of schedule. An increase in blackout dates — nights that the shelter was unavailable beginning at 5 p.m. due to training and other scheduling conflicts — led to the early closure, said Jess Duran, assistant director of the city’s Community Services and Parks Department.

“One of our challenges was the number of blackout dates,” he said. “When that happens, we either have to find an alternate location in our community or EIMAGO has to make other plans for relocation outside the city.”

Glendale had hosted the program at its armory for more than a decade until 2007, when it was shipped to Burbank to allow for construction and building upgrades.

The move was at first greeted warmly by community members, but complaints from residents living near the armory sparked community meetings and disagreement among council members on what to do with the sudden influx of transients.