Westside : Dedication Set for Multi-Service Shelter

A new shelter and counseling center that will provide long-term services for battered women, homeless adults and low-income families will be dedicated in Santa Monica today.

The multi-service facility, part of a network of emergency shelters operated by the Ocean Park Community Center, will include meeting rooms for support groups and a 55-bed area for people in need of temporary housing.

“This has been in the works for over four years,” Associate Director Sharon Smith said. “We look at this as a vision for the agency that has finally been realized.”

The 16-000-square-foot facility on 16th Street is part of the community center’s plan to consolidate some of its services in fewer locations to facilitate the efforts of the 90 staff members, 300 volunteers and 11,000 clients, a spokeswoman said.

A second phase of the plan--adding office space--is scheduled to begin this summer in a vacant lot next to the new facility. Total construction costs are estimated at $3.9 million, officials said.