Fremont to host public workshops on proposed homeless navigation center

City Council will decide location of facility in September

FREMONT » With the potential location of a homeless navigation center narrowed down to two, the city will host three community workshops on the controversial proposal this month before the City Council is scheduled to pick the site in September.

The center would be comprised of portable buildings where up to 45 homeless people could stay for up to six months at a time while working with a “housing navigator” to find permanent housing.

The people staying there would be given one meal each day and provided with bathrooms, showers and laundry services. They also would be connected to other services such as health and wellness, employment assistance and information about benefits that may be available.

The City Council last month decided the center should go either on a parking lot at the rear of City Hall in downtown, at 3300 Capitol Ave., or on surplus city property next to a plant nursery in north Fremont at 4178 Decoto Road. Both sites have drawn public protests, as did a previous location in the Niles community that was subsequently dropped.

Because previous council meetings have seen such a large turnout of people, the first two workshops will be held in a large auditorium at Harbor Light Church, 4760 Thornton Ave.

The first workshop will be on Wednesday, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and the second on Aug. 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The third one is set for Aug. 26, from 5 to 8 p.m., at

the Fremont Teen Center, 39770 Paseo Padre Parkway, a much smaller facility.

Suzanne Shenfil, the city’s head of human services, said the workshops will allow residents to share thoughts and concerns and ask questions of city staff members. They’ll also be able to post their opinions on “sticky walls.”

“We’re expecting a robust turnout,” she said. “We’re just trying to be responsive to people’s questions and give them good answers.”

Each workshop will follow the same format, Shenfil said, and the community feedback will be relayed to the council.