As the city is preparing to end services at the Community Hospital emergency winter homeless shelter, a second location is being considered to take on the gap in services.
The Long Beach Rescue Mission Thrift Store in the Washington neighborhood is under consideration to begin housing homeless people at the end of April, when services at the current winter shelter will end. The thrift store closed in November 2022, but the nonprofit organization is still in operation and provides housing and other services to homeless people in the city.
Long Beach opens an emergency winter shelter each year to help house people from the cold and rainy weather. The site at Community Hospital shelters more than 100 people a night and has been at full capacity since opening in late December.
It’s unclear how long the emergency shelter will remain open. Long Beach has been in a local State of Emergency due to the rapid rise in homelessness since Dec. 10.
Residents will have a chance to learn about the site and proposed services at a community meeting Thursday, April 13, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Drake Park Community Center.
The proposed site will immediately become available for those who are currently residing at the Community Hospital site, according to a statement from Councilmember Mary Zendejas’ office.
First to Serve Outreach Ministries will provide services, as the same organization that runs operations at the current winter shelter. It’s estimated that the site will provide between 80-100 beds and shuttle people from the Multi-Service Center each day.
According to the city, there were 796 beds provided each night by Long Beach and partnering organizations for the 3,296 homeless people identified in Long Beach in 2022. There are also 60 additional beds set up at the MSC every night.
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