The city council in Santa Ana, California, on June 15 tentatively approved the opening of a 75-bed temporary homeless shelter in partnership with the Salvation Army.
The council directed city staff to execute an agreement with the Salvation Army to operate the Hospitality House for the homeless, at 818 East Third St. The council will need to approve the agreement before plans move forward.
“It is part of the city of Santa Ana’s ongoing efforts to provide services, housing, and support to the unhoused individuals in Santa Ana,” Santa Ana spokesperson Paul Eakins told The Epoch Times.
“The city council considers homelessness to be a high priority.”
Hospitality House will provide the homeless with personal bed space, three meals per day, and the opportunity to work with a professional housing navigator to expedite their placement in permanent housing.
The Salvation Army agreed to open and operate Hospitality House while the city’s permanent 200-bed Carnegie Avenue shelter is under construction. The permanent shelter is expected to open by year’s end.
The need for Hospitality House arose after the city’s temporary 200-bed Link Shelter recently closed after more than two years of operation.
“We had the Link Shelter before, and that one was intended to be a temporary shelter,” Eakins said. “We had to vacate that because the building was being sold and is being developed. The Carnegie shelter is intended to replace that.”
Hospitality House will only be operational until the permanent shelter is open; under the proposed plan, the city would allocate $390,000 for an anticipated 90 days.
The contract is subject to extension, for a total amount of up to $780,000, from June 28 through Dec. 28.
