LAKEPORT >> The Lake Ministerial Association plans to open the Community Warming Center for the homeless on Monday, December 4. It will be based for the third year at the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Park Way in Lakeport.
It will close on March 30, 2018.
The center is operating under a major use permit provided by Lake County. The fiscal sponsor is Kelseyville United Methodist Church.
Last year, the center served 101 homeless individuals and, after the floods, served an additional 100 evacuatees, including many families. On an average night, 24 individuals were served.
According to data compile by volunteers, last year’s Warming Center guests had lived locally a combined total of 1,038 years and 7 months for an average amount of 11 years in the county. Thirteen percent of the guests last year were Veterans. Nine of the homeless person’s sheltered last winter were under the age of 18, but during the floods, this number increased to 39 children needing shelter. Nineteen of the guests at the Warming Center were over the age of 59.
Two guests died on weekends when the center was closed.
Every night the center was open there was a minimum of 6 volunteers. Some nights there were significantly more.
Plans for this winter include an assistant manager and a security guard on site during open hours. Additional positions including meal preparers and servers, overnight sleepers, intake personnel, laundry and shower assistants, filled by community volunteers.
The Center will be open five days a week — Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. and is limited to 24 guests per night. All guests go through an intake process and must arrive no later than 8 p.m.
One check in will be at the bus stop at the old Natural High School, opposite St. Mary’s, in Lakeport.
Community members will be offered a safe, warm place to sleep, dinner and breakfast, hot showers and laundry assistance. Pets are welcome but must stay in a designated area outside the building.
Additional services include assistance with obtaining valid IDs, computer and WiFi access for job training and housing searches, and family reunification mediation.
Last winter volunteers at the center helped three guests find regular employment. They also reunited two families.
According to volunteer Gillian Parrillo, the Warming Center is part of a coordinated group of solution providers in the County who are working to improve the lives of the county’s most vulnerable citizens. She said the center builds trust with homeless neighbors and introduces them to service providers who want to help, but often don’t know where to begin.
For the upcoming season, donations are needed to open the shelter and keep it open through March 2018. Checks may be made payable to: Kelseyville United Methodist Church and sent to PO Box 444, Kelseyville, CA 95451. Please write Warming Center on the memo line. A Go Fund Me Account is also available for donations (https://www.gofundme.com/lma-warming-shelterministry/donate).
In addition, sleeping bags and pillows are always in high demand and may be dropped off at the center beginning on December 4th.
If you have further questions or wish to volunteer, please contact the warming center via email: LMAWarmingCenter@gmail.com. Or visit our Facebook page at Lake Ministerial Association Warming Center.
Volunteers will be holding an open house on November 6 starting at 6 p.m. at the Lakeport Seventh-day Adventist Church. There will be opportunity to ask questions, learn more about the program, and to sign up to volunteer.
More details will be provided prior to the event.
