Cold Prompts Opening of Sylmar Shelter

Temperatures that dipped near freezing this week prompted the opening of the San Fernando Valley’s first city-operated temporary shelter for homeless families with children, but few families have used it so far, shelter organizers said.

The shelter, set up Sunday night at the Army National Guard Armory in Sylmar, is able to house 100 people.

But none showed up Sunday, and only two spent Monday night there, said Nancy Bianconi, director of housing operations for L.A. Family Housing, which is under contract with the city to run the shelter and other homeless facilities during the winter.

Shelter operators said that as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, three families had decided to spend the night in the armory.

Temperatures in the Valley were expected to dip to the 30s and low 40s Tuesday night and tonight, the National Weather Service reported.

The shelter was opened to comply with a new city policy under which most homeless families in the Valley and Westside are accommodated in shelters on cold nights instead of receiving vouchers to stay in motels.

The voucher system was too costly and denied homeless families many of the free services that are available in shelters, Bianconi said. Homeless single adults and couples are not affected by the new policy and may continue to seek shelter in armories and other facilities as they have in the past, officials said.

At a Van Nuys armory that accommodated an average of 115 homeless single adults and couples on cold nights last winter, only 10 people showed up Sunday night and there were about 25 boarders Tuesday night, Bianconi said.

An organizer at the Van Nuys armory said word that the shelter was open appeared to be spreading, as more than 40 people showed up by about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. They were sleeping on cots in the gymnasium and would receive a hot dinner and breakfast, he said.

Bianconi said one reason for the lower numbers was the National Guard’s policy of requiring advance approval for television news to visit the shelters. The policy, which she said was enacted this year, has stifled media coverage of the shelter program and resulted in reduced awareness of the shelters among homeless, she said.

Spokesmen for the National Guard could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.