County OKs Funds for Homeless Shelter

Supervisors voted Tuesday to contribute $32,000 to help support a winter homeless shelter in Oxnard.

The money will benefit the Oxnard/Ventura Cold-Weather Shelter, a December-through-March program run out of the National Guard armory. Mayor Manuel Lopez wrote the board last month asking for help to support the $257,000 program.

Salvation Army officials running the shelter say operating costs have spiked this year for several reasons, including a sharp increase in the number of homeless seeking shelter and an early start date because of exceptionally cold weather in mid-November.

Although the shelter caters mainly to homeless in Ventura and Oxnard, the facility is open to anyone in the county. For that reason, the county should support the program, Supervisor John Flynn said.

“If you take a look at the people at the warming shelter, they are from all over the county,” Flynn said, “And I think they are serving more people than ever before.”

The contribution, however, is $16,000 less than Lopez had requested from supervisors. In a staff report, Chief Deputy Administrative Officer Marty Robinson advised supervisors to fund the shelter, but offer only 12% of the shelter’s operating costs because about 12% of county residents live in unincorporated areas. Ventura contributes $58,000, Oxnard gives $43,600 and Camarillo and Port Hueneme give a combined total of $10,000. The shelter also receives $97,325 in grant money.