Advertisement

Update : Follow-up on the news : LA HABRA : Women’s Shelter Falls Victim to Catch-22

Share

A nonprofit organization might not be able to open a homeless shelter it has been planning for five years.

La Habra City Council members approved the 28-unit project, Mary’s Home, two years ago as transitional housing for single women and their children.

They imposed two conditions: that the sponsor and developer, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, take action first to ease parking problems on Marian Street behind Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, where the shelter is planned; and that families must not be allowed to live at the shelter for more than two years.

Advertisement

The St. Vincent de Paul Society was counting on a $1.2-million state loan to begin construction but learned that the money would be granted only if the project had no length-of-stay restriction.

At a recent council meeting, St. Vincent de Paul officials asked the city to drop that condition and help them find a solution to the parking problem.

Council members refused, saying that the project would not have been approved in the first place without those two conditions.

--COMPILED BY MIMI KO CRUZ, SARAH KLEIN AND DEBRA CANO

Advertisement