Well in the Desert home red tagged for code violations

A home run by Well in the Desert to help homeless people get back on their feet has been red tagged by code compliance in Cathedral City, which could force some people back onto the street.

Code Compliance found multiple violations at a home on Asistencia Dr., including having renovations where permits were not pulled, an old electrical panel, and a dangerous driveway to name a few.

For the past 10 years, Well in the Desert has been renting this home from the homeowner, so the Well can then rent rooms to people who would otherwise be homeless.

The city see’s this home as a halfway house, which would require a business license to operate in the city, something the Well in the Desert doesn’t have and doesn’t think is needed since they say this isn’t a halfway home.

“It’s not a halfway house, it was a house where people can live. We saw people grow and kick their habits, we saw people get married. We saw people leave. But it was never a halfway house.,” said Arlene Rosenthal, president of Well in the Desert.

“I don’t have a place left to go. I was on the streets before I came here,” said Melissa Daltry who had been living in the home for about five months.

At the home, the Well does not offer counseling or other services one might find in a halfway house. Rosenthal said the Well will be working with the folks who were renting out of the house to find someplace else to stay.

JOE GALLI IS ON FACEBOOK AND ON TWITTER @JOEGALLINEWS