Early Entry Facility opens at the Palm Springs Homeless Navigation Center
A project years in the making came to fruition on Tuesday morning. City officials, alongside the Palm Springs Police Department, met to mark the opening day of the Homeless Navigation Center's Early Entry Facility. City Council members, like Lisa Middleton, spent the morning sharing about the effort made to make the facility a reality.
"This is a opportunity for us to now have a place for people to come and get services, as well as have a safe place that they can sleep," said Middleton. She was one of the many folks who fought for the center to open in Palm Springs specifically. She says it was because of the lack of similar facilities on the West side of the valley that made the city the perfect place for one.
"Today, we're going to provide help for those who are already on the street," said Middleton. "But the bigger job is still before us, figuring out why are so many people ending up on the streets in the first place, and making sure that does not happen."
Anyone in need of the services will first have to stop by the access center off El Cielo down the street. Once the center has approved their stay, those seeking shelter will then be bussed over to the early entry facility for an overnight stay. The reason for this is to respect the businesses and residents living near the area, according to Middleton.
"This facility here is not a drop in facility, it is not a place for people to just come through the front door unannounced and get care," said Middleton. "We do not want people just hanging around outside on the streets. And in the community, the folks who are going to be coming here are coming to get help and to get care. And that starts at the Access Center where they have a chance to be interviewed. The only individuals who will be brought into this facility in the evening will be brought here by Palm Springs police officers."
PSPD has a partnership with the Homeless Navigation Center and will be helping folks in emergency situations through the "Project Hope" initiative. Five beds out of the 50 beds available will be reserved for homeless individuals brought in by PSPD Officers.
According to the City Council, funding for the $40 million dollar project came from a sundry of sources, including $10 million from a state grant, $7 million from Riverside County funding, $2 million from the federal government, and nearly $8 million from the City of Palm Springs. Jeffrey Bernstein, the current Mayor of Palm Springs, says the funding truly was a team effort.
"Projects like these, they seem expensive," said Bernstein. "They take a long time. But if we can help hundreds of people get into permanent housing, it's well worth it."
Martha's Village and Kitchen will be running the daily operations of the entire facility.
"When they're here, they will get dinner and breakfast," said Sam Hollenbeck, CEO and President of Martha's Village and Kitchen. "In terms of services. We have wrap-around services available at the Access Center still. So when they're there, they can meet with a case manager. It's up to them how much help they want at this point. We can help them get any kind of forms of identification. We can help them research benefits that are available to them. We can do anything they need help finding a job."
In addition to 50 overnight beds, the facility also has restrooms, a lounge area, cleaning products, and a fridge. Homeless folks with pets will also be allowed to stay overnight.
Several modular homes are also being built on the project site, and those will be complete by this summer. The modular homes will be the next phase of housing for people living in the Early Entry Facility. They have a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchenette. People will eventually transition into these homes before finding permanent housing.
The point of the Early Entry Facility is to eventually help homeless people get off the streets, find stable income, move into more permanent housing, and end their cycle of homelessness.
"These are our residents," said Mayor Bernstein. "These are people's sisters and brothers and mothers and kids who, for some reason, can't afford a place to live. Or they've had some kind of other issue and need help. And we as a city as a society need to help those who are less fortunate. And by building this center, we're actually giving more permanent help to them, that we can see long term results."
City officials told News Channel Three's Tori King that 370 people will be able to be seen and helped at the Early Entry Facility every year. For a more in depth report, including a private tour of the facility, see Peter Daut's exclusive story here.
