The South County has a new homeless warming center. Give this one a chance
An emergency warming shelter is opening in South County after all, just in time for what’s expected to be the first big rainstorm of the season. It will be at LifePoint Church in Grover Beach.
That’s a relief — as well as a testament to the willingness of the faith community to step up.
Homeless advocates had been scrambling for months to find a new location, ever since the shelter was more or less forced out of its last site, when LifePoint offered its campus at 946 Rockaway Ave.
The operation will be run a little differently this year. The 5 Cities Ministerial Association will rotate teams of volunteers to help staff the warming shelter, while the 5 Cities Homeless Coalition will continue to provide paid managerial staff.
The center was scheduled to open on Dec. 1, but the date was moved up in response to the weather forecast.
Good thing, because even in sunny California, winter warming shelters can mean the difference between life and death for homeless people. Over the past three years, at least 13 people died in Los Angeles County alone, due at least in part to exposure to cold weather.
Given those dire statistics, every local government should have a plan in place to ensure there are enough emergency beds available during winter storms.
Yet too often that responsibility falls to nonprofit advocacy groups trying to operate in communities unwilling to accept any type of homeless services.
Example: There have been repeated efforts in South County to open a permanent shelter, but they were rebuffed by — let’s face it — NIMBY neighbors.
Even the winter warming center, which opens only on rainy and cold nights, has been shunted from place to place.
It was first located in a meeting room at the county Department of Social Services in Arroyo Grande, but lost its lease on the space. (The building is not owned by the county.)
Next, the shelter moved to Hillside Church, near an elementary school and a residential area in Arroyo Grande. It was booted out, due in part to opposition from neighbors who blanketed the community with signs reading, “Right idea, wrong location.”
Let’s hope neighbors of LifePoint Church give the warming center the fresh start it deserves.
It’s in a near-ideal location. It’s close to other churches, the Grover Beach Police Department is nearby and it’s just a block away from Grand Avenue, where there’s a variety of shops and public transportation.
Plus, LifePoint Church, which used to be open primarily for Sunday services, already has been reaching out to the homeless community.
It’s a regular stop for mobile showers operated by Shower the People and the South County People’s Kitchen serves a daily hot meal there. The church also conducts daily services.
The city of Grover Beach issued a use permit for these intensified, daily activities in March.
Grover Beach city manager Matthew Bronson said the warming shelter is allowed under the existing permit, so the church will not be required to go through another public hearing.
LifePoint already has taken several steps to comply with its city permit, by installing security cameras, adding landscaping and putting up screens for the mobile showers.
Lead pastor Kevin Gotchal said the church wants to do even more to be a good neighbor.
“The future plans are for some of larger churches to help financially with the beautification of the place,” he said. “In the next year or two, it’s going to be a beautiful place.”
Want to help?
To learn more about LifePoint Church, call 805-489-3328 or go to www.lifepointcentralcoast.com.
To reach the 5 Cities Homeless Coalition, call 805-574-1638 or go to 5chc.org. To volunteer at the warming center, email Moisses.Rodriguez@5chc.org.
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 5:51 AM.
