Fresno converts fourth motel to homeless shelter. Could there be more funding coming?
Fresno unveiled a newly refurbished motel of about 80 rooms, the latest in efforts to house the homeless in former rundown motels, officials said on Wednesday.
Once called the Welcome Inn, the motel at 777 N. Parkway Drive will be redubbed Journey Home, according to Preston Prince, the CEO of the Fresno Housing Authority.
The newest motel is the fourth in an area that has historically been the site of human and drug trafficking, officials said.
The first three motels are 100% full, Preston said, and Journey Home will begin getting new tenants in the shelter on Thursday.
The city of Fresno contributed $6.8 million and Fresno Housing Authority put in $24 million to buy the four motels and operate them for the next five years. The authority’s money came from Project Homekey, an $835 million state initiative Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced in July to use the buildings as transitional and permanent housing.
Councilmember Miguel Arias said the investment is prudent because building affordable housing from the ground up comes with many regulations that can drive the costs up.
“It is the smart and fiscally responsible choice to make,” he said. “You cannot build any unit for $65,000 from beginning to end in this city.”
Some of Journey Home’s tenants will come from Project Off-Ramp, an effort that targets an estimated 250 people who have erected tents and begun sleeping on embankments and other unsafe areas along highways 41, 180 and 168, according to Mayor Jerry Dyer.
Officials said they expect another round of funding through Project Homekey to be coming down the pike, though the timeline was not immediately clear.
The city of Fresno is also facing a potential deficit of $31 million, according to Dyer, which he says could lead to layoffs without help from President Joe Biden’s plan for a $1.9 trillion relief package.
In that package is a number of rental, housing and other relief efforts for people struggling due to the virus, Dyer said. He noted residents are behind on water and other city utility payments by about $5 million in deferred fees.
“I believe it is absolutely critical to our city, in our county. We are No. 2 in the state of California in poverty,” he said. “We have a lot of needs that are unmet now and we owe it to our people to be able to meet those needs. That relief package is something that’s going to help us.”
