The city of Anaheim is planning to have several cold weather shelter beds ready by February so that people experiencing homelessness in the city can have a warm place to stay overnight.
So far, no cold weather emergency shelter has opened in the county this winter. For a long time regional emergency shelters opened in the county by October – most years using the National Guard armories in Fullerton and Santa Ana.
The county will grant Anaheim $137,500 to work with faith-based organizations and churches to have up to 50 emergency shelter beds throughout the city, if an agreement reached is approved by the OC Board of Supervisors and the City Council on Tuesday. Most of the funding would go toward buying beds and other supplies.
Advocates have argued local leaders haven’t acted quickly enough to ensure the homeless population is safe from inclement weather during this winter season. Orange County is expected to see up to two inches of rain by Tuesday, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.
The Anaheim cold weather shelters would be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and be accessible to those with Anaheim ties.
They would open during inclement weather, such as overnight rainstorms, high winds and when temperatures are expected to dip below 45 degrees. City spokesperson Erin Ryan said the rain expected this weekend was a good example of weather that would prompt the shelters to open.
Last year, an emergency shelter didn’t open in the county until February after push-back from Santa Ana over hosting one again after the year-round shelters it had opened and lack of interest from other cities. The Independence Park gymnasium in Fullerton was used after the city agreed to help and people were provided transportation to the shelter.
Having one central location for an emergency shelter poses challenges for those seeking a place to stay overnight and for the hosting city, officials have said. City mayors and managers throughout OC were sent letters in October by county officials asking what their city needs are during winter and asking them to explore the idea of each city hosting its own cold weather emergency shelter to serve their homeless population.
Anaheim is one of the few cities that responded. As of the most recent count in 2022, the city of Anaheim had 485 unsheltered homeless people, out of the county’s 3,057 total.
The city will partner with the nonprofit Love Anaheim on opening the shelters. Love Anaheim will utilize its program that employs unhoused people to coordinate with the churches and organizations offering space.
“It’s a great opportunity for people who might be hesitant about going into a shelter to then be able to talk to someone, and know they got someone there who can understand where they are coming from, understand some hesitancies, and maybe even help them accept services,” Ryan said.
The city’s Community Care Response Team will transport people to the shelters, which will each have five to 15 beds. Shelters will provide a light breakfast in the morning, restrooms and connections to supportive services.
Doug Becht, director of the county’s Office of Care Coordination, said there are currently no ongoing conversations with other cities about hosting a similar program. His office, he said, has previously received feedback from cities saying a cold weather shelter is important, and they’re interested in participating, but not if it’s a countywide program.
“We believe that this program that Anaheim is rolling out will be a great example for other cities to show that the county is able and willing to partner with cities on creative models to help provide extreme weather shelter for folks in a local model,” Becht said.
The Office of Care Coordination, he said, is also piloting a protocol to make sure county-run shelters are filling every empty bed they have available with people looking to get out of extreme weather.
“We have ensured that we are making those shelters more accessible. Meaning, when that inclement weather hits, if our outreach team or our Sheriff’s Department comes across people that need immediate shelter, and there’s an opening at one of our shelters that’s within the spot that person is located in, that we are able to make an immediate referral and transport that individual there to get out of the weather as soon as possible,” Becht said.
“Back in the early 2000s when the cold weather shelter started, that was the only shelter that was available all year long for folks,” he added. “There wasn’t a year-round shelter, and there were much fewer services. Now we have a robust shelter system that’s well over 2,000 beds year-round for a variety of populations, including individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness.”
