Fresno builders’ winter homeless shelter already reporting progress. What that means
Since RH Community Builders opened its winter warming shelter doors last month to serve Fresno’s homeless population, at least eight people already have found new permanent housing, the group announced Monday.
RH Community Builders touted that success Monday during grand opening ceremonies showing off the new 24-hour shelter at 2445 West Whitesbridge Ave., which formerly housed Comprehensive Addiction Programs.
The facility can house up to 77 people and helped upwards of 90 homeless individuals in December. The eight who have since exited into permanent housing that included substance abuse treatment and apartments through housing vouchers.
“This place is awesome,” said John Dausner, a resident and former truck driver who has been on the streets for 20 years. “If it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be alive.”
The offices of Senator Kamala Harris, U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, and the City of Fresno presented awards to RH Community Builders CEO Wayne Rutledge and President Brad Hardie for funding the shelter. City councilmember Esmeralda Soria presented a proclamation to its director, Desiree Martinez.
Martinez, who also runs a homeless advocacy group called We Are Not Invisible, got a call from Hardie on Dec. 2 asking what she thought about turning the CAP building into a warming shelter.
“He said, maybe we can open it next week, which put everything in the process of getting all the volunteers together, Martinez said. “After a week and a half cleaning, it was just, boom, doors open on a Friday.”
They opened the shelter on Dec. 13. It will be open until Feb. 29.
“It’s like family,” Martinez said. “There’s Friday night Bible study, Sunday evening vans come and pick up everybody for church, we have another room we’re going to use to do haircuts. I’m going to bring barbers.”
The Fresno-Madera Continuum of Care partnered with RH Community Builders to provide two-full time navigators charged with moving people into permanent housing.
“It was a no-brainer,” said Jody Ketcheside, vice chair of the Continuum of Care. “How many times have we all sat around and thought, this building’s empty, this building’s empty, why don’t we do something with it? And finally someone was doing that.”
Poverello House provides lunch and dinner, and Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry provides breakfast. People can come with their pets, partners and possessions.
According to Hardie, the shelter cost them around $100,000 over three months. They received about $7,000 in private donations.
The building housed Comprehensive Addiction Programs, or CAP, until it lost its license in August. Hardie and Rutledge bought the building in September and wanted to put it to use until March when they hope CAP will lease the building once more. They are working with CAP to get them recertified through the state.
RH Community Builders also bought the Mental Health Systems campus on West Clinton Avenue last year, which they remodeled and renovated. Mental Health Systems now leases part of the campus, while WestCare leases a previously unused portion, which they have turned into apartments for project-based rapid rehousing, according to Laura Moreno, program manager at the county Department of Social Services.
“We need private business to come in and to partner,” Moreno said. “They’re able to bring in the business, ownership and the money to renovate some of these places.”
RH Community Builders is continuing to look for donations from the public. They are hoping to get disposable plates, silverware, cups, sugar, coffee and milk. The public can drop off donations at Uncle Harry’s, Regency Property Management and at the shelter, located at 2445 West Whitesbridge Ave.
