Newly announced Monterey homeless shelter to house women, families
From dance studio to homeless shelter, the building that is currently home to the Arthur Murray dance center in Monterey is on track to becoming an emergency shelter for women and families.
“I think an overnight shelter an emergency shelter overnight is a critical piece that's been missing in our community,” said Kimberly Cole, community development director for Monterey.
The shelter will be operated by Community Human Services which operates an overnight shelter for young adults in Monterey and a shelter for women and families in Seaside.
Plans call for a 30-35 bed shelter, possibly serving as many as 150 homeless people a year.
“It's 150 people that are not sleeping in their cars, that are not sleeping on the beach that are not sleeping under a bridge, they're sleeping in a garage somewhere they have a stable place the whole idea behind these kind of shelters is that we can get people in we can get them stabilized and we can get them out to permanent housing,” said Robert Rapp, development director for Community Human Services.
The project surrounded by auto shops and nearby homes does not need city council approval because it's in a designated shelter zone the city council approved 4 years ago.
“I think it's instrumental that all of the cities step forward and we're all part of the answer for homelessness, said Cole.
The shelter however will have to have security, on-site management, appropriate lighting and not exceed 35 people.
The building built in 1930 was purchased by the Mark Shuman family who then gifted it to the non-profit for a shelter.
In a press release issued by the non-profit, Shuman said “I’m super proud to be part of this project and happy to be working with Community Human Services to bring something to Monterey that we don’t have.”
“He wanted to provide beds in Monterey for people in Monterey county and that's what we're hoping to do here… and it's going to change the lives for people in Monterey going to change the lives of people that live here,” added Rapp.
Community Human Services has now launched a campaign to raise more than $1.5 million to renovate the building with hopes of opening the shelter in the summer of 2023.
As for the Arthur Murray school of dance, they have 1-year left on their lease and the non-profit said they plan to honor that lease agreement.