Inland Valley Emergency Winter Shelter

by Homeless Services Action Group (HSAG)

While it is “common knowledge” that Mendocino County has the second-worst rate of homelessness in the country, it turns out that in terms of per capita rates, we are actually the worst.  According to Kael Loftus, who serves as the Program Manager for Street Medicine at Ukiah Valley Medical Center (soon to be known as Adventist Health Ukiah Valley), this is in part due to population: “We have under 90,000 in our county, so a small number of homeless can make a large relative difference.  I have looked at the Point In Time count data for areas with high rates of homelessness.  Any rate over 30 homeless per 10,000 in population is considered high. San Francisco’s rate is one of the worst in the country, 80/10,000. Our rate in Mendocino County is about 140/10,000. There’s no debate: we’re the worst.”

The high rate of homelessness creates a host of social problems, including over-use of the jail and the local emergency room, pollution, and disruption of businesses.  Then there is the risk to the homeless themselves: life expectancy for the chronically homeless is between 42 and 52, and the homeless can die of exposure in bad weather. 

In response to this last factor, the Homeless Services Action Group (HSAG), a coalition of organizations and individual advocates in Ukiah Valley, took on the task of organizing the Inland Valley Emergency Winter Shelter this year.  One of the coalition’s partners, MCAVHN (Mendocino County AIDS & Viral Hepatitis Network) led the shelter effort last year; this year more organizations actively participated.  HSAG Board President David Taxis comments, “There’s no question that this year, the winter shelter was a broader effort.  We had great support from the City of Ukiah, County HHSA (Health and Human Services Agency), and UVMC, who all assigned personnel to work with us, for which we are very grateful.  With the donated time and talent of so many people, we were able to make some improvements on last year’s operations.”

One of the biggest challenges this year was finding a suitable building, after 2015’s Mazzoni Street space was leased for another purpose.  Eventually HSAG was able to lease space at 1045 S. State Street, and the Shelter opened on December 15^th, with a permit from the City of Ukiah to operate for four months.  The Shelter holds 44 cots in two spaces, a men’s dorm area with 29 cots, and a women and children’s dorm area with 15.  Maya Stuart from the County HHSA, reports that over the last four months, over 175 people have stayed at the shelter at different points, including women with children, and that 25% of the guests have stayed at the shelter since it opened in December, never leaving.  The facility hosts a shower trailer, and has washers and dryers on premises for guests to clean their clothes.

A general consensus is that this year’s Shelter has run smoother than last year.  Tony Marsh, who works for RCS (Redwood Community Services), also works as a supervisor at the Shelter.  He thinks it is in part due to environment: “This year’s space is smaller, and a little more home-like.  That seems to have calmed the guests.”  HSAG has also made an effort to be good neighbors and respond to concerns, including posting “No Loitering” signs on premises (to respect hours of operation for the shelter), implementing a  “bat phone” noise complaint line for neighbors, and a quiet time policy of 9pm.  Mike Diaz, owner of the Bio Dynamic Iron motorcycle shop that holds the storefront part of the property, feels HSAG has made an effort to mitigate the impacts of the shelter on the surrounding neighborhood: “Yeah, at points we’ve had some issues with people coming to our shop thinking it was the shelter, or with trash around the bus stop in front of the shop, but the folks from HSAG have been really good about communicating and responding when there have been problems.  I feel like cooperating with this effort is a way to help the community.”

HSAG will hold a blessing ceremony on Saturday, April 15^th in honor of Easter, as part of its seasonal closing that morning.  If you are interested in helping with homelessness in Ukiah Valley, HSAG holds meetings that are open to the public on Thursdays at 2pm at the offices of Manzanita Services, located at 401 Jones Street in Ukiah.

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The Homeless Services Action Group (HSAG) is a coalition of organizations and individual advocates in Ukiah Valley.