Turlock's We Care shelter back open but future remains uncertain
We Care reopened its doors on Friday after a month-long shutdown due to ongoing funding issues. The city's only men's emergency shelter typically shuts down for two weeks in the summer, but this time, they nearly didn't reopen at all.
Sot: michelle h / shelter coordinator0:22 "We're having problems with funding from the city, but our wonderful community came up with lots of donations for us, and so we're going to stretch those as far as we can," said shelter coordinator Michelle
CBS13 has extensively covered the funding fallout for the shelter after city leaders in Turlock refused to pledge $1 of support, causing the shelter to lose out on nearly $270,000 in state funding.
Now, it's back open but with a tighter budget. It normally costs the shelter $35,000 a month to operate. The shelter has 49 beds dedicated to men, but they're hoping new grants will secure more funding.
But for now, they're hoping those budget cuts can get them past fall because for clients like Simon, who only wanted to be addressed by his first name, a bed inside means everything.
"It's a lot better than sleeping outside or sitting in a chair all night," Simon said.
If We Care receives those grants, it will get just over $150,000 to put towards the shelter alone, with extra money going to its rapid rehousing and other programs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
$24 million renovation brings affordable housing to West Baltimore residents
A major housing development opened today in West Baltimore, providing a critical lifeline for vulnerable residents in need of stable housing. City and state leaders gathered to cut the ribbon on the $24 million renovation of the Residences at Irvington Woods. The transformed property includes 71 upgraded units specifically designed for homeless families, veterans, and people with mental health needs. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Small oil spill near Ventura Harbor closes nearby streets for cleanup
A small oil spill from a pipeline near Spinnaker Drive in Ventura Harbor Aug. 4 forced the closure of roads in the area for the cleanup. A caller leaving the harbor reported seeing a black, oil-like substance spraying from an unknown source around 7:20 p.m., according to the California Office of Emergency Services. Reports to the state indicated about 40 gallons of oil had spilled around 1200 Spinnaker Drive. Ventura Fire Department is leading the hazardous materials response. Ventura police and Ventura Harbor Patrol were assisting with traffic control in the area. Portions of Spinnaker were closed to traffic, and drivers were directed through adjacent parking lots to exit the harbor. The state report indicates a tree had fallen and damaged a valve but fire Battalion Chief Jeremy Henderson said he could not confirm how the spill started. The oil had not entered the water, he said. The oil was kept to a secondary containment area, according to the state report. Operators of the pipeline had been called to the area to assist with cleanup. Stacie N. Galang is news director of the Ventura County Star. She can be reached at 805-437-0222 or This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Small oil spill near Ventura Harbor closes nearby streets for cleanup Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
A Summertime Haven for Homeless Children
Visuals by Monique Jaques Text by Sarah Nir At the edge of Lake Kanawauke in New York's Hudson Valley, third graders splished in the shallows, giggling till they came ashore spluttering. On the portico of a bunkhouse, teenage boys raced paper boats in buckets. Under the eaves of their tent, 7-year-old girls in a bunk bed exchanged friendship bracelets. Beneath a nearby beech tree, their bunk mates held a solemn funeral for a ladybug. Daniel Velazquez, 10, first-time camper. Summer camp is always an oasis, particularly for urban children like those who splashed, played and poked sticks at beetles on a recent serene Friday. But perhaps none more so than Camp Homeward Bound, 45 miles north of New York City, which may be the longest running sleep-away camp in the country exclusively for homeless children. Shanely Green, 10, fourth-time camper. For the past four decades, the camp, which is run by the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless, has provided refuge to thousands of the youngest residents of the city's homeless shelters. Camp Homeward Bound in 1993. Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times On this day, campers played underwater tag in the lake, tumbled in three-legged races and waited out a passing sun shower with arts and crafts. The challenges that normally pervaded their lives seemed to slip away like the sun into the lake as the campers lined up for a taco dinner, practiced for a talent show and then hunted for the perfect sticks on which to toast their marshmallows. 'So many of these kids have been devalued and dehumanized just going through the shelter experience,' said Dave Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless. 'So to be able to come to a place like this, where they don't have to hide it, they don't have to worry about it — it is a truly freeing experience.' About 30,000 children sleep in New York's shelter system each night, according to the city comptroller. Each summer Camp Homeward Bound takes in about 360 of those children, ages 7 to 15, for its no-cost 16-day sessions. The cost, about $4,000 per camper, Mr. Giffen said, is covered by donations. Khalil Richards, 10, fifth-time camper. Chloe Reynolds, 9, first-time camper. There can be fraught moments for campers, far out of their comfort zones, according to Bev McEntarfer, the longtime camp director. To help them cope, camp counselors receive training from social workers and mental health professionals. But equally valuable are the junior counselors, all of whom are formerly homeless campers and can offer support — and hope. One former camper, Homeward Bound's culinary arts instructor, is enrolled in culinary school. Another, the camp's art teacher, is pursing a degree in arts education.'People think of them as just these downtrodden kids that have no future,' Ms. McEntarfer said. 'They just need to have their world opened up so that they know what their future can be.' At Homeward Bound, the tough situations the campers face back home are deliberately not emphasized. Yet the undercurrent of trauma that cuts through many campers' lives still eddies between campfire singalongs and games of Uno on the bunk steps. Endrismar Sanabria, 13, from Queens, proudly showed off the blue wristband that indicated she was a strong enough swimmer to cannonball off the dock into the deepest part of the lake. When she first came to camp, two summers earlier, she could not swim, she said — a fact that had terrified her when, at age 10, she forded rivers and piled into an ocean raft as she fled Venezuela with her family. At night, there were cicadas and stars, where most campers were more used to sirens and streetlights. Seated on the grass, looking out at the glimmering lake, Diomer Ortiz, a 12-year-old from the Bronx, said his favorite part of camp — after bike riding — was the view. 'The mountains, the islands, the sky,' Diomer said. 'It feels like you're in heaven.'
