Storefront Shelter May Stay--for Now

City officials will allow a pastor to continue operating a homeless shelter from his storefront ministry until a new facility outside the downtown area can be found.

The Rev. Timothy Waisanen, the pastor of Corona Christian Fellowship, came under fire from business owners on East 6th Street who said the shelter attracted transients and panhandlers to the downtown area and hurt their operations. Business leaders had called on the City Council to relocate the facility.

But religious leaders rallied in Waisanen’s defense, saying the shelter at 611 E. 6th St. is one of the few walk-in facilities in the area for homeless men, women and children who need emergency assistance.

Under a plan approved by the City Council on Wednesday, Waisanen will be allowed to remain in the shelter until the city’s Redevelopment Agency and a newly created ad-hoc committee on the homeless can find a suitable replacement, possibly near one of Corona’s industrial parks.

“I’m very pleased,” Waisanen said of the plan, pointing out that it did not set a deadline for the shelter to be moved. “This way there is no definite stop date.”

An earlier proposal gave the ad-hoc committee six months to find a new location for the shelter. If it wasn’t moved within that time, the council was to review the situation again. Waisanen objected to the provision.

Finding a new location has already proven a difficult task. The ad-hoc committee, composed of 17 business and religious leaders as well as City Council members and city staff, had looked at a house near an industrial park on Blaine Street.

But city building inspectors examined the house and reported it “is in very poor condition and is not worth trying to repair.” The house needed a new roof and possibly a new foundation.

It is also anticipated that any new shelter will have to include separate facilities for women and children. Waisanen said he has had as many as three women with children stay at the shelter on one night.

The committee will also try to come up with a long-term plan to relieve the homeless problem. The plan is expected to propose counseling, including help for substance abusers and job assistance programs.