Glendale homeless find shelter out of town

While there might not be a winter homeless shelter in Glendale this year, those in need of a roof over their head can still be picked up locally and taken to an 80-bed facility in Pacoima.

Last week, the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission opened a shelter with the goal of giving homeless people from Glendale priority to spend the night.

Every day at 5 p.m. through March 15, a 15-person van picks up people in front of 5101 San Fernando Road and heads to the 26,000-square-foot facility at 11066 Norris Ave.

“If there’s more people than we can transport in one run, we can come back and make a second run,” said Ken Craft, president and chief executive officer of the mission.

In addition to the cots, there’s eight showers and hot food being served at the shelter, situated inside the community center of the Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church.

“It’s a better alternative than the streets,” Craft said.

Those who seek to use the shelter must be at least 18 years old.

In a few weeks tuberculosis screenings will be held at the shelter and those with the disease will be isolated from everyone else, but not asked to leave, he said.

The Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority is funding the shelter as it did when the Glendale National Armory on Colorado Boulevard housed the program for more than a decade.

The influx of homeless drew complaints from patrons at the Glendale Central Library, Adult Recreation Center and nearby retailers.

The city of Glendale tried running the shelter for a few years until Ascencia, the largest homeless care provider in the community, operated the program out of one of its locations last year before moving out.

Ascencia’s plans to host another shelter this year didn’t pan out because it was unable to find a new location that satisfied the county program.

Natalia Profant Komuro, Ascencia’s executive director, said she has been referring people to the pickup location if they needed a place to stay overnight.

“I’m glad somebody is able to make it work because the beds are definitely needed,” she said.

Craft said priority at the shelter is given to homeless people from Glendale, but if there are any free beds left for the night, walk-ins in the area are welcome.

He added that at the most so far, he’s seen about 40 people from Glendale stay overnight.

Every morning at 7 a.m., the van takes people back to the drop-off spot or they have the choice of being taken to the mission’s access center where they can get food and case management, Craft said.

He said he’s able to keep track of homeless people from Glendale who use the shelter because transients tend to develop comfort zones in their respective cities.

“We can make a pretty fair assumption that those we are picking up in the Glendale area are from Glendale,” Craft said.