Irvine : U.S. Grants $496,000 for Sheltering Homeless
The federal government has approved a $496,000 grant to build some type of shelter or “transitional housing” for homeless families on a 20-acre site where an animal shelter is located in East Irvine.
The grant, approved this week by the federal Housing and Urban Development Department, includes $146,000 to establish the shelter and $70,000 annually for five years to operate and maintain a 50-bed facility. Nonprofit Irvine Temporary Housing would operate the proposed shelter in the 1500 block of Sand Canyon Avenue, just south of the Santa Ana Freeway and east of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
The plan to locate the homeless facility at the city-owned Sand Canyon site has sharply divided the city. One option was to convert one of two dog kennels on the property into living quarters for the homeless, but opponents of the plan say it is inappropriate to house humans so close to animals. They also warn that noise from military jet overflights makes the site unsuitable for human habitation.
But proponents, including Mayor Larry Agran, say the site’s isolated location is ideal for homeless people trying to straighten out their lives.
The council is expected to make final decisions in late November on whether to use the Sand Canyon site and on what type of facility to build.
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