Safe Space Winter Shelter has announced that its intake center will be at Trinity United Methodist Church for the rest of its shelter season.
Following more than a week of negotiations with the city of Chico over a zoning issue, Safe Space has been operating the intake center out of the church’s parking lot. That’s after the nonprofit was forced out of using the former downtown 7-Eleven building.
Safe Space Program Coordinator, Lauren Kennedy, said it’s not the best solution, but they’ll make it work.
“Like last night it rained,” Kennedy said. “We were able to put up a canopy, but we are super grateful to Trinity Methodist Church for the space and we’re still trying to figure out the logistics to how to make it work better. But we’re just glad that we could keep operating.”
The intake center is not where people are housed overnight. Kennedy said it’s akin to a waiting room and serves several functions, as their overnight shelter location rotates week to week.
“The intake center is one spot that just stays the same, and that helps lower barriers to folks who are trying to access shelter,” Kennedy said. “It’s where people check their property into storage, where we do registration so that we can keep track of guests and help them access services.”
Going forward Kennedy said Safe Space will continue to provide overnight shelter during winter months when cold temperatures are potentially life-threatening.
She said they’ll also continue to work with city administrators and the council to find better solutions.
At least 27 unhoused people died in Chico last year. That’s an unofficial number, as like most cities and counties in California, Chico and Butte County don’t track homeless deaths.
