Calexico to receive 10 trailers to house homeless
CALEXICO — This city will receive 10 travel trailers to house homeless persons.
The trailers belong to the Imperial County Department of Social Services. The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved transferring the trailers to the city.
“The goal of this effort is to provide non-congregate shelter options for people experiencing homelessness, protect human life and minimize strain on health care system capacity,” a county of Imperial agenda item read.
Excitement regarding this was apparent among the City Council as City Manager Miguel Figueroa shared the news Wednesday.
While the trailers must be used to house homeless individuals and/ or homeless families that require shelter, the city has the option of transferring them to an organization that would, in turn, use them for the same purpose.
Individual who may be housed in these trailers include persons who are homeless and have no available shelter, individuals who test positive for COVID-19 who do not require hospitalization but need isolation or quarantine (including those released from hospitals), and individuals who have been exposed to COVID that do not require hospitalization, but need isolation or quarantine.
Additionally, homeless individuals who are asymptomatic, but are at high risk — such as those 65 years old and older and/or have underlying health conditions — and require emergency, non-congregate shelter as a social distancing measure may be housed in a trailer.
As of Friday, the 10 trailers had not been delivered.
“We are in the process of scheduling this move,” Figueroa said Friday.
The trailers remain parked at Desert Trails RV Park on Wake Avenue in El Centro.
The lot at which they are parked in is near the county Department of Social Services building.
During Wednesday’s City Council meeting,
county Supervisor Jesus Escobar said these trailers were parked in the parking lot of the Imperial Valley College gymnasium six months ago.
Figueroa, during the meeting, advised the council that it should expect in coming meetings a staff report pertaining to this transfer.
“And how we’re going to be now moving
forward now that the travel trailers have been passed on to the city,” he said. “But, at the same time, given the limitations that we have, how we’re going to partner with community-based organizations to assist the populations.”
As for a location for the trailers wit, Mayor Pro Tem Javier Moreno suggested the old
tourist parking lot on East First Street. The location is directly adjacent to the parking lot to the Valley Orthopedic Clinic (356 E. First St.), which is currently in the process of being converted into a farmworker service center.
“There’s also room to put those trailers there at the tourist parking lot,” he said.