President of Well in the Desert says it will continue to serve community without permit
The City of Palm Springs revoked Well in the Desert's permit to operate. The city manager, Justin Clifton, said the city sent a reminder to Well that they were supposed to be closed by the end of July.
News Channel 3 reached out to Clifton, but he was unavailable for an interview. He sent the following statement:
“Well in the Desert does not have any permission to remain open during this time. After learning that they remained open after August 1st, the city sent a reminder that the CUP for operations at that location has been revoked. To the extent they remain open, the city will escalate enforcement action consistent with other land use violations of this nature.”
News Channel 3 wanted to know what specific actions the city will take if Well keeps operating, however, city council members and the city manager were unavailable to comment.
The Well's president, Arlene Rosenthal said she's not going anywhere and will continue to provide for her clients.
"People have a need. Because it's the humanitarian thing to do," said Rosenthal. "What happens if they have no place to go? It's the most inhumane thing I can think of and I won't be a part of that nor will members on the board."
The organization said it has no plans to stop working.
"I'd be silly to say I'm not worried because I'm worried about the well being of our clients, but I'm not scared. I'll stand firm and so will my board about protecting our clients," said Rosenthal. "We've been here going on 26 years, protecting those that don't have a voice that are in need. And we will continue to do it until we can have another place for them to be protected."
The city is continuing negotiations with Martha's Village and Kitchen to run the Palm Springs Boxing Club homeless service center. Rosenthal said Well will join Martha's Village at the Boxing Club even if Well isn't in charge of the location.
The City said it hopes to have the Boxing Center open the third week of August.