Eureka, California, plans February opening for new homeless shelter with 40 sleeping units

Eureka plans to open a new homeless shelter in February, offering manufactured units for adults and couples experiencing homelessness, along with space for their pets. The site at 16 Second St. is owned by the city, which will contract with the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation to operate the shelter.

Plans call for 40 sleeping units, with delivery expected in December. The site will also include laundry, shower and kitchen facilities. Residents will have access to showers, laundry and services to help them find employment and housing.

City officials hope the new site will give them more capacity to address their homelessness crisis. A $2.9 million donation from the Balay Ko Foundation, which supports projects addressing housing and food insecurity, funded the property purchase and development. The city and the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation will pay for ongoing operations.

Noah Coleman, the homeless foundation’s program manager, said the project, called Balay Ko on Second Street, will expand local shelter capacity. “Right now, it seems like there’s quite a few people out there, and the weather’s getting bad, and things are getting busy. So we just hope to increase the total number of shelter beds,” he said. Offering beds to people without shelter reflects the practice of welcoming the stranger (Matthew 25:35).

Residents of the new shelter will receive case management and other services from the foundation and the city’s Uplift program. Coleman said residents will need to follow rules on curfew, noise and cleanliness.

“We’re not going to allow substance use or intoxication on site, but we will work with anybody and everybody and serve everybody on an equal, first-come, first-serve basis,” he said.

Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery said the shelter will help the city offer services while holding people accountable for behavior that harms other community members. “The intent is to get people off the streets into those units and then onto resources related to employment and resources related to housing,” Slattery said. “Get people through those steps and get them either a job or into housing.”

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