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Tag: Winter Shelter

  • Where can homeless in Citrus Heights go when it’s cold, wet?

    A cart with the belongings of a woman experiencing homelessness sits at the winter sanctuary on Jan. 31 as other guests eat a hot meal. // M. Hazlip

    By Mike Hazlip—
    A rotating shelter program in Citrus Heights that offers those experiencing homelessness a hot meal and a place to sleep during the coldest and wettest winter months is underway and seeing more new faces this year, organizers say.

    The Winter Sanctuary program operates annually with the help of area churches who agree to serve as host sites for a week at a time, before the lodging rotates to another host site. Accommodations are typically provided for up to 20 people.

    This year’s program began Jan. 1 and is slated to continue through Feb. 25, 2023.

    Guests gather at Messiah Lutheran Church at 7801 Rosswood Drive where they register and store their belongings for the night. From there, they are taken by bus to the host church where they are provided a hot meal, sleeping arrangements, and a sack lunch the next morning.

    Celtic Cross Presbyterian Church hosted the most recent week that began Sunday, Jan. 29. During a visit by Sentinel staff on Tuesday, volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, Citrus Heights Stake, were on hand to help.

    Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) President Irene Hronicek said she is seeing more first-time guests taking advantage of the program as a result of efforts by the Citrus Heights Police Department and the homeless navigators who are making contact with individuals who need assistance.

    Hronicek said about 14 guests arrived to the intake center at Messiah Lutheran Church near Rusch Park on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Some previous guests of the program have been reunited with family, and one is in a recovery and sober living program, Hronicek said.

    Volunteer Denise Hinkson said the efforts from homeless navigators Gabby Yost and Yvette Horst to offer resources to people she encounters are paying off.

    “Fewer repeats this year, we have a lot of new clients,” Hinkon said. “Some of that is attributed to Gabby and Yvette and the work that they’re doing in our community all year round that’s funneling newer folks back to us and back to our services.”

    Guest Kimberly Hines is one who has benefited from those services. Hines said she passed a personal milestone on Tuesday, celebrating 31 days of sobriety from a meth addiction that began more than 20 years ago.

    Staff from Dignity Health was on-hand Tuesday night to provide first aid and health care advice to guests of the program. Elena Casey, RN said she typically sees guests with minor wounds and pain complaints. Casey also helps guests with Medicare cards and gives advice, trying to stress the importance of seeing a doctor. Many homeless people treat themselves, Casey said.

    “They only come to me if they’ve been treating something that hasn’t healed,” Casey said, noting that people with unhealed wounds are often diabetic. “I can give them more supplies than they have. It’s amazing, if you’re going to live on the street and survive, you’ve got to be pretty tough.”

    President of the Relief Society at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, Citrus Heights Stake, Bev Bair, said about 10 volunteers from the church participated Tuesday night, with some taking overnight shifts with guests.

    Bair said helping others is an expression of her faith.

    “For me personally, it is part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ,” Bair said. “I need to serve as He would serve, and He served those who needed help, so anyone who needs help, I do what I can.”

    Those seeking more information can visit citrusheightshart.org/programs/winter-sanctuary, and volunteers can register at: JustServe.org or HandsOnSacto.org and searching for “Citrus Heights HART Winter Sanctuary” on the sites.

  • Rotating winter shelter for Citrus Heights homeless to begin Jan. 1

    Rotating winter shelter for Citrus Heights homeless to begin Jan. 1

    Personal belongings and tarps are shown set up along Sunrise Boulevard near Old Auburn Road in December 2022. // CH Sentinel

    By Mike Hazlip—
    An eight-week winter shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Citrus Heights is set to begin on Sunday, Jan. 1, organizers say.

    The shelter is coordinated through the Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) and involves several area churches and volunteers who provide a warm meal and a place to sleep each winter.

    The program is set to kick off this year with Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church hosting guests each night from Jan. 1-7, according to a schedule by the organization. The shelter will then rotate to other locations, with participating churches including Celtic Cross Presbyterian, Divine Savior Catholic Church, Advent Lutheran, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Citrus Heights Stake, and Foundation Christian Church.

    Guests will gather at an intake center at Messiah Lutheran Church at 7801 Rosswood Drive, between 4:30-6 p.m. each night, before being bused to the host church. The program is slated to conclude Feb. 25, 2023.

    A statement emailed to The Sentinel by HART President Irene Hronicek shows the program hosted 19 women and 58 men last year, during the nine weeks between Dec. 26 and Feb. 25. More than 800 volunteers served over 1,000 hot meals and 972 to-go lunches.

    “Thank you for helping as we offer a hand up, not just a hand out,” the statement said.

    Citrus Height HART is asking anyone looking to volunteer with the overnight program to contact the organization at www.citrusheightshart.org. Individuals can also help by purchasing supplies and equipment for the organization through an Amazon wish list, with items including socks, hand warmers, beanies, toiletries, and other items.

  • Winter shelter for homeless underway in Citrus Heights; volunteers sought

    Sentinel staff report–
    Last Monday began the first of a 55-night rotating shelter at area churches for homeless in Citrus Heights. Through Feb. 24, up to 20 homeless are able to grab a hot meal and warm place to stay thanks to the overnight hospitality of various congregations and numerous volunteers.

    The effort is part of an eight-week “Winter Sanctuary” program coordinated by the Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART), a local nonprofit made up of various public and private organizations, churches, and volunteers. The shelter program relies heavily on the involvement of area churches, with various congregations offering to host the homeless overnight for a week and additional volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and other area ministries also offering staffing help.

    “We offer a hot meal, a dry place to sleep, and a to-go meal in an environment that helps [the homeless] connect to caring people and services to help them on a path out of homelessness,” said Irene Hronicek, who serves on the board of HART and is helping coordinate this year’s shelter. While at the shelter, she said homeless guests, as they are referred to by volunteers, will also be offered help from Alcoholics Anonymous, free health checkups from a mobile Elica Health Center van, domestic violence resources from A Community for Peace, and housing counseling and assistance by a homeless “navigator” from Sacramento Self-Help Housing.

    The shelter kicked off last year for the first time in Citrus Heights with a seven-week rotating shelter, which has now expanded to eight weeks for 2018.

    This year’s temporary shelter came just in time for rain on Wednesday, offering a dry place to stay at Holy Family Catholic Church on Old Auburn Road, which hosted the first week of the shelter program. Despite the rain, however, only one homeless person showed up to the shelter on the first night, and by Wednesday the shelter only hosted four homeless overnight.

    “We thought there’d be more,” Hronicek said, noting that hundreds of fliers had been passed out to announce the shelter. “But the weather is so mild right now, so a dry place to stay is maybe not as big of a deal.”

    Compared to last year, the shelter also started out with smaller numbers, but overgrew capacity by February when volunteers even had to turn one guest away in the rain. Hronicek noted the weather was colder last year, and 2017 also began with a heavy downpour from a pair of “atmospheric rivers” that caused minor flooding in Citrus Heights.

    Another reason some homeless avoided the shelter in the past has been HART’s rules, which includes a no drug and alcohol policy. Guests must also show up each night at an intake site at Messiah Lutheran Church between 5-6 p.m. in order to be taken by a van to the host church. The shelter is also unable to accept homeless who have pets, due to facility limitations.

    Although having more than enough volunteers to staff the initial weeks, shelter organizers said volunteers are still being sought as “night owls” — a term referring to the overnight shift at the host facility. A host church for the fifth week is also still up in the air.

    Hronicek said it’s been difficult finding churches who will agree to be a host location, and said rotating shifts between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. require about 20 volunteers to be lined up each night.

    “20 people, 7 nights a week; it’s a burden,” she said.

    Although having an immediate goal to provide temporary shelter for those without homes in the winter, HART’s ultimate mission is to help the homeless find permanent housing — and getting the often-roving homeless population in one room has proved to be helpful towards that end.

    The City of Citrus Heights has partnered with HART in its housing endeavor by providing funding for a full-time homeless navigator, charged with the task of connecting homeless with public services. During last year’s shelter, the navigator said 30 homeless guests received housing counseling, 11 were provided transportation through rides or a bus pass, and 10 shelter guests were given fee-waiver vouchers for applying for a state ID or drivers license.

    Once the shelter program concludes in February, HART is also seeking churches or landlords in Citrus Heights that are willing to have their rental property serve as transitional housing for homeless. Those interested in volunteering for HART or the winter shelter are invited to contact the organization through their website at www.citrusheightshart.org.

    For more about the shelter program, see last year’s extended article published here: Winter Shelter: churches, volunteers help homeless off Citrus Heights streets.