By Brooklynn Wong
Ground was broken last week on a homeless shelter that will serve several North Orange County cities. It will sit in the city of Buena Park, and it has been a long time coming.
When the homeless encampment along the Santa Ana River was cleared out, it led to a lawsuit that resulted in the ruling that many of the cities in the area could not enforce their anti-camping ordinances until more shelter beds were put in place for people to move in to.
That sparked a collaboration among the cities of the North Service Planning Area (SPA)—Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Rossmoor, Stanton, Villa Park and Yorba Linda—to come up with optimal locations for shelters that could be built in a timely manner.
Buena Park and Placentia were determined to be those locations.
As for this Buena Park shelter, the City Council, residents and homeless advocates from all over the county, and dignitaries from surrounding cities and the county of Orange debated for months where to put the shelter. The initial location was nixed after residents felt it was too close to residences, schools and businesses with heavy foot traffic, inciting worries about security and effects on property value.
City staff listened, and instead proposed this location, in an industrial area of the city, at 6494 Caballero Blvd.
It then took a while to decide which organization would operate the shelter, and who will make up the oversight committee over the shelter is still being decided.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Wednesday, July 10. Dignitaries from many of the North SPA cities were on-hand, and the process of construction got its ceremonial start. It is projected to wrap up in early 2020.
Orange County Fourth District Supervisor Doug Chaffee spoke, commending the city managers of the North SPA cities, saying this is the only SPA in the county that is working together.
More than one of the speakers on the day spoke of how unusual it is to see cities work together like this, in such an efficient manner, with one saying it took “political courage.”
Mercy House is the organization that was ultimately chosen to operate the shelter.
Mercy House Executive Director Larry Haynes was present and spoke briefly, saying, “Hope is coming” to those who have faced homelessness in North Orange County.
And Judge David Carter, who was involved with the aforementioned lawsuit, was unable to attend, but sent a congratulatory letter that was read, in which he told the group of cities, “You are an example.”
The property was already owned by the city, but the facility itself is under construction, being built with repurposed shipping containers. It will contain 150 beds, and provide a number of wrap-around resources.
The project is fully funded, with $6.4 million coming from the state in the form of Homeless Emergency Aid Program funding, and more from North SPA cities and Senate Bill 2 funds.