Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/homeless-shelter/page/2/)
South Orange County mayors, under pressure from a federal judge, on Thursday chose a closed elementary school along rural Santiago Canyon Road as a site they’d like to see become a new homeless shelter.
Spitzer was “stirring up a bunch of lies and nonsense” with his comments last month to public meetings of the Laguna Niguel and Costa Mesa city councils, Supervisor Shawn Nelson said. Spitzer said his colleagues weren’t telling the whole story.
Voice of OC has begun building a map showing all of Orange County’s existing homeless shelters as well as all potential emergency housing zones.
A majority of the council has expressed concern over Supervisor Shawn Nelson’s proposal to open a 200-person homeless shelter on county land near the entrance to the Great Park.
The Midnight Mission, which runs the county’s new homeless shelter, prides itself on hiring formerly homeless people. But a few altercations have raised questions about employees’ lack of licensing for security work and their criminal histories.
The services center in Anaheim promises to provide up to 200 homeless people at a time with a safe sleeping space and support services like mental health treatment and housing referrals.
Igmar Rodas, an outspoken member of the homeless community at the downtown Santa Ana Civic Center, spent a week chronicling his visits to the homeless shelter and service center the county just opened at the old downtown bus terminal.
Orange County First District Supervisor Andrew Do spent the night at the county’s newly opened homeless shelter and service center in downtown Santa Ana last Thursday. He said he “learned a lot” from the experience.
A plan by county officials to turn an abandoned bus depot into a service center for homeless people at the Civic Center is drawing cautious praise from some homeless advocates. But others are wary, including one advocate who says it will make the problem worse.
With the population of homeless people at the Civic Center ballooning to more than 450 and heavy criticism coming from the media and county officials, the Santa Ana City Council Tuesday declared a public health and safety crisis.