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For the first time in its 13 seasons, the Santa Clarita Valley Emergency Winter Shelter has run out of room for clients.
The shelter has been struggling this year to deal with a spike in homeless people seeking a safe, warm place to stay the night as the economic recession has deepened.
And shelter officials are in a funding pinch - they have been forced to put up female clients in a local motel, but are running out of money to do so.
"It's the first time we've ever had 50 (clients)," said Tim Davis, executive director.
The seasonal shelter is open through March 15 and provides housing, food and social services to clients. Many of the clients are first-timers at the shelter.
"My very best guess (is that) it is the economy," he said.
Last season, the shelter saw as many as 42 clients a night, Davis said.
The shelter is designed to hold 40 beds. Shortly after the shelter opened in December, the number of clients, especially men, started increasing. Shelter officials were able to rearrange the dining area, pushing the number of cots to 49, he said.
"This last week, we went beyond what we could put in," he said. "There's many more men than there are women."
The shelter has seen as many as 58 clients a night this week. All of the women, about 12, are being put up in a local motel.
The spike in clients has forced the shelter to use money normally spent on motel rooms for families for single women.
"That'll last for a couple of weeks," he said.
If the shelter doesn't get additional funding, then it might need outside financial support, Davis said.
He added the shelter has also seen a surge in the number of families that come seeking help. Last year, the shelter served 21 families.
"We're running ahead in the number of families," he said, adding that the shelter, not even midway through its season, has already served at least as many as last year.
But federal, state and local resources are helping families at a quicker pace.
"We're seeing more families," Davis said, "but they're not staying in our shelter and on our budget for very long."
Jan. 28, 2010 10:08p.m. EST
No vacancy: Emergency Winter Shelter maxed out
Guest Commentary
The Signal
For the first time in its 13 seasons, the Santa Clarita Valley Emergency Winter Shelter has run out of room for clients.
The shelter has been struggling this year to deal with a spike in homeless people seeking a safe, warm place to stay the night as the economic recession has deepened.
And shelter officials are in a funding pinch - they have been forced to put up female clients in a local motel, but are running out of money to do so.
"It's the first time we've ever had 50 (clients)," said Tim Davis, executive director.
The seasonal shelter is open through March 15 and provides housing, food and social services to clients. Many of the clients are first-timers at the shelter.
"My very best guess (is that) it is the economy," he said.
Last season, the shelter saw as many as 42 clients a night, Davis said.
The shelter is designed to hold 40 beds. Shortly after the shelter opened in December, the number of clients, especially men, started increasing. Shelter officials were able to rearrange the dining area, pushing the number of cots to 49, he said.
"This last week, we went beyond what we could put in," he said. "There's many more men than there are women."
The shelter has seen as many as 58 clients a night this week. All of the women, about 12, are being put up in a local motel.
The spike in clients has forced the shelter to use money normally spent on motel rooms for families for single women.
"That'll last for a couple of weeks," he said.
If the shelter doesn't get additional funding, then it might need outside financial support, Davis said.
He added the shelter has also seen a surge in the number of families that come seeking help. Last year, the shelter served 21 families.
"We're running ahead in the number of families," he said, adding that the shelter, not even midway through its season, has already served at least as many as last year.
But federal, state and local resources are helping families at a quicker pace.
"We're seeing more families," Davis said, "but they're not staying in our shelter and on our budget for very long."
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