Concern About Homeless Cools

The weather may be just as frigid as during last month’s cold snap, but public concern about the homeless seems to be missing this time, Ray McCann, a manager at the Union Rescue Mission, said Wednesday.

Last month, after four street people died of hypothermia, City Hall was opened to the homeless for three nights, a mattress company donated 600 quilts to a new shelter and a private developer donated an abandoned warehouse to house 500 people.

“Buses were picking up men right off the street and taking them to shelter,” McCann said. “This time that’s not happening. It’s old news.”

Still, some Skid Row shelters opened early this week and at least two added beds.

An abandoned print shop opened by the city after January’s cold spell started taking in 130 more clients Tuesday for a total of 330 people, according to Robert Beavers, director of volunteer services for the Salvation Army, which now manages the shelter. St. Vincent Center opened close to 100 beds in late January, said Sister Georgiana Cahill, associate director of Catholic Charities, after the City Council relaxed zoning restrictions on the establishment of shelters.

However, another vacant city structure at 527 Crocker St., which the council had authorized to house 90 people, has not yet opened. Deputy Mayor Grace Davis said officials have not yet been able to find a service provider to operate it.

The Midnight Mission and the Los Angeles Mission gave out a combined 350 extra meals and opened their doors earlier than usual, spokesmen said. But a city Fire Department spokesman said the Union Rescue Mission, the largest on Skid Row, lost the use of 150 chairs because it exceeded the the maximum allowed under the Fire Code.