Ojai : Council to Vote on Shelter Donation

The Ojai City Council will decide at its meeting tonight whether to contribute $500 toward a new homeless shelter program that will be run by seven area churches.

The churches have agreed to take turns providing overnight shelter specifically for homeless families for the remainder of the winter season and plan to continue operating the program annually, said Dan Singer, assistant to City Manager Andrew S. Belknap.

The $500 contribution from the city would be used to purchase supplies, including cots, for the Ojai Family Shelter program, he said.

“That is what the organizers asked for,” Singer said. “It is a small enough amount that the City Council should pass it.”

The idea for the shelter came from the Ojai Valley Ministerial Assn., a group of about 20 valley churches, said Pastor Wilbur Skeels of the Ojai First Baptist Church. A similar program is operated in Simi Valley.

Church and city officials estimate that there are between 20 and 50 homeless people living in Ojai.

Skeels said the churches hope to kick off the shelter program in early January. He declined to release the names of the churches that will participate in the program until all plans have been finalized.

He said the program cannot begin operating until schedules between churches can be worked out and more volunteers who are willing to stay overnight at the shelters are found.

Skeels said he does not anticipate any complaints arising from the community once the shelter program begins operating.

“There is a real change in attitude in people understanding the nature of the need; after all, the families seeking shelter are our neighbors,” he said.

The council meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 401 S. Ventura St.