Christ Episcopal Church in Alameda, California, Considers Extending Warming Shelter Season to April

On Sunday, September 28, parishioners and neighbors of Christ Episcopal Church (CEC), at 1700 Santa Clara Avenue, met to discuss a City of Alameda proposal to extend the operating time of the Alameda Warming Shelter. CEC is the shelter’s primary host site. The shelter has previously operated from December through March. Under the new proposal, it would still open on December 1 but would remain open until the end of April.

Rev. Stephen McHale led the meeting. He was joined by Chris Callandrillo, Chief Program Officer of San Francisco’s Episcopal Community Services (ECS), which manages the shelter and provides its staffing. Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft also addressed the meeting.

Beyond hosting, CEC has historically provided about 30% of the shelter’s operating budget and has sourced meals for guests from a network of volunteers, a practice of hospitality toward neighbors without a place to stay (Matthew 25:35). CEC also provides showers and is in the process of installing laundry facilities. Two other Alameda churches rotate as host sites. Trinity Lutheran hosts over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, and New Bridges United Methodist, formerly Twin Towers UMC, hosts for part of February.

The budget for five months of ECS services at the shelter is $360,000. The City would provide $230,000, the county would add $60,000, and CEC would account for $70,000. The City is also committing money for case workers and for hotel vouchers for individuals who are unable to live in a group setting.

The shelter operates in CEC’s Fellowship Hall, a multipurpose space also used by the church and its onsite preschool. For that reason, guests must leave by 7 a.m. each day and may return when the doors reopen at 6 p.m. Many guests spend their daytime hours at The Village of Love on Alameda Point, but that facility is changing, and the City recently issued a request for proposal for a new service provider.

Mayor Ashcraft thanked CEC, volunteers, and the wider community for their work in keeping the shelter operational. Attendees voted unanimously in favor of extending the shelter by one month. The recommendation will be passed to the Vestry, CEC’s governing body. The source notes that Scott Piehler, who hosts the Alameda PostCast, serves as a Vestry board member at CEC. Vestry approval is expected.

Source: Read the original report