Day Center for Women Opens in Van Nuys
The Women’s Care Cottage, a daytime drop-in center for homeless women and children, officially opened Thursday on the grounds of the First Methodist Church, at 14242 Sylvan St. in Van Nuys.
“We’re providing the basic kinds of survival needs,” said Harriott Quin Resendez, the center’s director.
The center, founded by the San Fernando Valley Friends of Homeless Women and Children, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Resendez said she and two trained volunteers constitute the staff.
Women and children visiting the center can bathe, wash their clothes and get some rest, Resendez said. They also will be served a meal. The children can play in a fenced area.
Zoning laws do not allow homeless people to sleep overnight in the cottage, Resendez said.
“We’re a small facility,” she said. “We can only serve three or four families at a time. But it’s a start. I hope this would eventually become a bigger program.”
The center is in the church’s former youth building.
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