RivCo passes $7.6M in shelter project funding as homeless face extreme heat
Riverside County is pushing $7.6 million dollars in funding to develop more emergency shelter projects.
The money will directly impact two projects in the Valley. One in Palm Springs and another in Indio.
Until then, the homeless community is asking for more help as they try to survive in this relentless heat.
“It’s brutal. I mean, you can’t get settled. You’re sweating, it’s hot. You can’t get enough water, enough ice," said Tammy Kirchgater.
Kirchgater has been homeless for 2 years. With a pile of bins, bags and a tarp draped over a wooden pallet, she tries to escape the relentless heat.
“This is kind of where I stay. This is all my stuff. Somebody else’s trash, my treasures," as she described her living space.
Kirchgater tells News Channel 3's Samantha Lomibao she is constantly being displaced.
With the extreme heat, she says it’s made matters worse.
“It’s hard. This heat just brings you down emotionally, mentally, physically. It just breaks you. You know, it’s horrible," she added. “Just because I sleep in the dirt, I eat in the dirt, I socialize in the dirt, it doesn’t mean I am dirt.”
On Tuesday, the County approved more than $7 million in funding toward more emergency shelters. One million will be going toward 50 beds at the planned Homeless Navigation Center in Palm Springs.
Another $1 million will go toward creating 42 beds at the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission in Indio.
Kirchgater tells us the current beds fill up quickly, leaving her and others in the streets.
Fortunately, she’s been receiving weekly help from the non-profit organization The Bridges2Hope.
“They’re all people and they all have a story and there’s something good about every one of them," said Peggy Grabow, the Vice President of TheBridges2Hope.
"It’s a step back and we need to help them step up instead of shame them.”
Grabow is a full time nurse at Eisenhower Health. During her free time, she is out near the railroad tracks in Palm Desert helping homeless individuals like Kirchgater.
“Today, I took one for an ID, I took one to social services and I took Tammy to recycle because there was no way she could physically make it to the recycle center," she explained.
Grabow says the extra shelter beds are helpful, but says more needs to be done.
“There’s not enough vouchers. There are the people in the middle that are between 20 and 60, it’s very hard to get them into housing and I think they really need to start addressing that age group," she said.
There’s no word yet on a timeline on these emergency shelter changes.
With this added project development alone, the county says it’ll increase shelter beds by 28%.
