Homeless system prepares for busy winter

Oct 29, 2009 (North County Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- NCBH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The lingering recession and a wet winter could lead to an increased demand for North County's homeless shelters this winter, regional officials said this week.

"We've never had lines where we had to shut the door and say, 'The rest of you can't come in,'" said Melvin Takahara of the Alliance for Regional Solutions, a pilot program that unites nine North County cities and various social service agencies to provide shelter and programs to help the homeless get off the street.

"But if we get to the point where we are facing a significant demand that we can't meet, I have to tell you, there is no simple answer to that," Takahara said.

The 12-bed shelter operated by the Community Resource Center in Encinitas opened about one month ago, but other shelters in the alliance's 189-bed emergency system are scheduled to open Dec. 1.

The center's social services director, Filipa Rios, said the 12-bed shelter that opened Sept. 28 already is full and has a waiting list. The center operates shelters in local churches on a rotating basis.

Takahara said the number of beds will be the same as last year, when the system served 637 men, women and children over four months.

Although there is no way to predict how many people will use the shelters this year, Takahara said shelter organizers are expecting an increase.

"Last year we were at the beginning of this current recession," he said. "Some people anticipated we'd see a greater increase, but professionals in the field were aware that it would probably be many months before people affected by the recession exhausted their savings and ended up homeless."

Those professionals predicted that people who lost their jobs last year may be this year's new homeless, Takahara said, adding that there are already indications of increased demand for services.

"We have seen throughout the year a huge increase for needs of low-income subsidy services," he said. "And agencies such as Interfaith, North County Lifeline and the Community Resource Center have been inundated by increases for services and requests for assistance. At this point, we are thinking this will be reflected in an increased demand for shelter as well."

Carlsbad, Del Mar, Encinitas, Escondido, Oceanside, Poway, San Marcos, Solana Beach and Vista participate in the alliance and pump funds into the system according to a formula that determines their fair share.

The alliance's budget this year is $433,530, said Stan Miller, who handles finances for the alliance and is executive director for the North County Community Services.

This year's budget is down from last year's budget of $447,159, Miller said. The program began three years ago as a three-year pilot program with $70,000 in seed money from the United Way, which this year provided $5,000.

Miller said other contributions this year include $40,000 from Tri-City Medical Foundation and $15,000 from the Parker Foundation.

Participating cities often fund their shares through community development block grants. The Vista City Council on Oct.13 voted to provide $18,778 to allow Operation HOPE to open its 50-bed facility at 123 Orange Ave. on Dec. 1.

Other shelters that will open Dec. 1 are the 50-bed Bread of Life in Oceanside, the 40-bed Salvation Army in Escondido and 75-bed Catholic Charities in Carlsbad.

While the poor economy could be responsible for more people seeking assistance this winter, cold and rainy weather also may cause a population increase at shelters this year. According to the National Weather Service in Rancho Bernardo, the Climate Prediction Center predicts a mild El Nino that could bring 30 percent to 40 percent more rainfall to the area from November until January.

Takahara said some shelters were filled to capacity on some cold and rainy nights last year, but no one was left outside because room was found for the overflow at other shelters in the system.

If all shelters were to be full at once, Takahara said operators could find themselves making difficult choices.

"We come up against the more difficult part of this work when shelter managers and directors have to decide to exceed their stated and functional capacity," he said.

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