Letter from the President: 05-01-06: EWS ends 2005-2006 operations.

The 2005-2006 Santa Clarita Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS) closed for the summer on April 15. The location for next season's Shelter, to open in mid-November, remains unknown.

The Shelter had reopened Friday, December 23 at 6 p.m. in the same location as last winter, at 21190 Centre Pointe Parkway, on a Los Angeles County Department of Public Works maintenace yard within the Santa Clarita city limits. Originally scheduled to remain open there through mid-March, the Shelter stayed open another month, per L.A. County Fifth District Supervisor Mike Antonovich..

The Santa Clarita Community Development Corporation, for the ninth season, operated the temporary Shelter, again in cooperation with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency (LAHSA), the office of Supervisor Antonovich and other County authorities, and in continued collaboration with the Santa Clarita office of Lutheran Social Services.
The SCCDC was forced to dismantle the Shelter at the same location in March 2005, at the end of the 2004-2005 season, and search for a new location for this winter, per agreement with the County and the City of Santa Clarita. An extensive search led to land adjacent to the Pitchess sheriff's facility in Castaic, but the Castaic Town Council blocked use of that location.

Finally, in mid-November, Supervisor Antonovich's office secured permission for the Shelter to return to the DPW yard on Centre Pointe, just west of Golden Valley Road. Given the green light, SCCDC Operations Director Barbara Preheim and Project Manager Andy Pattantyus -- aided by fast-track approvals by government officials plus an unprecedented outpouring of support from the community -- finalized re-construction of the EWS in time to open before Christmas. The organization retained Harold Meier, of Meier Bros. Construction, as the general contractor to install the facility's modular buildings and modify them to code. All this was dismantled by SCCDC volunteers after the Shelter closed, and the trailers prepared for removal May 1.

Meanwhile, a task force of Santa Clarita Valley community leaders is seeking a location for winter 2006-2007. Supervisor Antonovich named its members. Their report is expected byearly fall.

On behalf of the people the Shelter serves, almost half of whom are children according to the 2002 Homeless Advisory Task Force, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank those hundreds of volunteers and businesses throughout our community who once again helped to assist people in need this winter.

If you're not a volunteer and would like to help next season, click HERE.