A new homeless shelter expected to open in Crescent City in the coming weeks will be Del Norte County's first, according to county officials.
After months of delays, the 60-bed shelter recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The shelter is designed to offer congregate housing, with residents sharing living spaces rather than staying in individual units.
The facility plans to provide a place to stay, meals and case management to help residents find housing, health care and other services.
Shiann Hogan, the county's deputy director of behavioral health, said the shelter fills a long-standing gap in local services.
Homeless folks previously "didn't know where to go or how to get help or where to access things," she said. "This just gives people an option. I hope that we just see a lot of success through people moving through."
The project was built with an approximately $11 million state grant, some of which will also help pay for the shelter's day-to-day operations.
Del Norte Mission Possible, a homeless services nonprofit, plans to run the site using a Housing First model, allowing residents to move into shelter immediately while working with staff to find permanent housing.
Ranell Brown, director of the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, said the transitional housing project fills a crucial need.
"It was very hard to assist individuals to encourage them to leave encampments, then they're not really ready to go to permanent housing, so there was that gap of housing services," she said.
Residents are expected to come to the shelter through a combination of outreach and word of mouth. Plans call for the shelter to be staffed 24/7, provide meals and allow pets under certain conditions. Minors will not be housed at the facility.
A later phase of the project calls for a 50-unit tiny home village for residents who are ready for more independent living before moving into permanent housing.
Brown said she hopes the project will also strengthen community support for homeless services.
"[If] people see success in this, then I think we'll definitely be able to garner that further support, if we're looking at other projects," she said. "Making our community better is really what we all hope for."
