OXNARD : Record Numbers at Homeless Shelter

A record number of needy residents sought help this winter at Oxnard’s Red Cross warming shelter, which tonight will serve a final dinner to the homeless before closing its doors for the cold season, officials said.

Since the Red Cross Emergency Warming Shelter opened for the winter in November, 942 people have spent the night there, many of them returning several times for meals or a warm bed, officials said.

On busy nights, as many as 170 people slept at the facility at the National Guard Armory, said Richard Rink, spokesman for the organization.

Since November, 550 volunteers have served 23,242 meals and provided beds to an average of 100 people a night, officials said. Other items and services offered at the shelter included clean clothes, medical referrals and counseling.

The overall increase in the number of people seeking help was due to the January floods, during which homeless residents were evacuated from river bottoms in Ventura and Oxnard, Rink said.

The Red Cross will be able to use the armory again for its winter shelter in November, Rink said. During the spring and summer, the facility is used by the National Guard.