Desert Local News - Index

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homeless dumping
New Homeless Warehouse Plans Revealed
By Dean Gray
A multi-million dollar Homeless
Warehouse is under development
at the Indian Avenue gateway
to Desert Hot Springs. The expensive
regional solution replaces
successful local solutions that cost
the County nothing.
This plan offers only more
trouble to our little city as it is not
designed to help the homeless of
DHS nor is warehousing the homeless
in the middle of no-where the
best solution to the homeless problem
for other cities.
Meetings were recently held
with the homeless of Palm Springs
to help guide the development on
McLane Street.
The building is estimated to
cost $11 million to purchase and
remodel and $4 million annually
to operate. No meetings have ever
been held in DHS to solicit the input
of our homeless regarding this
location or to allow public comment
from DHS residents.
Some Palm Springs homeless
complain that the Homeless Warehouse
is too far away from “home
base” and services like the free
homeless feeding at Sunrise Park.
These complaints raise the question
if this expensive facility will
ever be used at all by the homeless.
“That was their primary concern
-- location and transportation” the
Desert Sun quotes CVAG Executive
Director John Wohlmuth.
No plan has ever been discussed
to transport the homeless of
DHS to the Homeless Warehouse
off Indian Avenue. Special buses
now operate to bring the West Valley
homeless to a 50 bed regional
homeless shelter in DHS.
Only 17% of the current population
at Judy Shea’s Homeless
Shelter operation are from DHS;
the other 83% come from other
valley cities. The homeless from
DHS are banned from simply
walking into the County funded
Homeless Shelter in DHS.
While the multi-million dollar
Homeless Warehouse would likely
have a similar population breakdown,
some object… “A cash
strapped city cannot afford to take
care of problems for three cities,”
writes former two term Council-
woman Mary Stephens. The former
councilwoman didn’t know
what many are now finding out...
that the Homeless Warehouse has
an even larger goal in mind.
The site on the western edge
of the Coachella Valley South
of DHS will serve the East Valley
homeless from as far away as
Cook Street in Palm Desert. Going
West, Supervisor Ashley spoke in
Banning and Beaumont last week
informing them of plans to also
bus their homeless over the pass
to the Homeless Warehouse on the
fringe of DHS.
A typical middle class home is
1,700 square feet. The Homeless
Warehouse is the equivalent of 28
typical three-bedroom, two-bath
homes. How many homeless will
be warehoused is not known at this
time. It’s estimated that the one
building could hold many hundreds.
If the adjacent warehouse
is also purchased then the population
could number more than a
thousand.
Some question why the Homeless
Warehouse is not centrally located
but on the doorstep of DHS
in an area devoid of many of the
services the homeless are asking
for.
Fifth District Supervisor Ashley,
speaking in Banning and
Beaumont indicated that many
of the social service programs
(counseling and medical services)
promised to DHS will be fast built
on that site which is actually located
inside the city limits of Palm
Springs which is represented by
the Fourth Supervisor District.
Former Councilperson Stephens
sat on the CVAG Homelessness
Committee prior to then
Councilwoman Yvonne Parks and
offers her experience, “The only
other thing we discussed at CVAG
when I was on the committee was
a program as you mentioned using
the churches. This would be done
by rotation. In other words no city
would be the constant site.”
Stephens refers to the successful
and never controversial “cold
weather shelter” that local churches
provided in years past that cost
the taxpayers nothing. The program
this year is controversial,
was operated in an illegal manner
and costs $80,000.
Referring to the Judy Shea
Homeless Shelter Stevens continues,
“…I never knew about busing
in folks to the site or any other site
as a constant location.”
Former City Councilman Hank
Hohenstein writes, “We need
strong representation on this matter
or we will have a disproportionate
number of homeless.” And
“One size does not fit all and the
sooner we discern that fact the
sooner we will begin to solve this
issue.”
The homeless in Palm Springs
are already given free bus passes
but no bus line goes by the Homeless
Warehouse. A special shuttle
service is now under discussion.
No mention was made about the
additional cost of such special services
or how it will be paid for. It
is assumed that the cities (including
DHS) will bear this expense.
The Palm Springs homeless
also expressed concerns about the
rough weather conditions and the
extreme wind associated with the
location. Apparently the homeless
of DHS are a tougher breed,
less inclined to complain about a
little wind and sand. To date, no
one has asked the DHS homeless
about what they need and there is
no plan to do so.
Palm Springs homeless are also
voicing concerns about the nearby
train tracks on the other side of
the freeway. Psychological barriers
such as freeways, bridges, and
railroad tracks discourage movement
in that direction.
“Studies of the movement of
people prove that even one of these
geographic features is enough to
hold people back and turn them
away,” says Planning Commissioner
Gabriel King, “This location
is the ‘home run’ of psychological
barriers and obviously points the
homeless to DHS.”
“Safety is also an issue,” according
to the Desert Sun. One
homeless veteran states “he is concerned
homeless people could fall
victim to crime and face dangers
near train tracks.” It’s not likely
that the homeless will migrate
to Palm Springs. It’s more likely
that the homeless wandering away
from that facility will naturally
head up the easiest road… up Indian
Avenue… walking or hitchhiking
to DHS.
Additional concerns about the
safety of the homeless are exasperated
by the lack of nearby police or
sheriff sub-station. The closest law
enforcement presence is in DHS.
According to Police Chief Pat
Williams there has been no study
or inquiry about the additional
cost or manpower needed to assist
with protection of the homeless
concentration under development
south of DHS.
Homelessness is a problem best
served by local solutions. Concentration
camps of homeless justify
big budget bureaucracies and create
other problems. The challenge
to DHS is to provide a safe local
solution and to not sit idle while
Riverside County determines our
fate.