SHELTER OUTREACH, MOVE-IN CONTINUES
“Once we get them into the Pallet shelter or the Torres Shelter, we’ll have those services to help. The goal is to have mental and behavioral health people on site that can help those needs. It’s the same thing for people who are hunting for a job or need food stamps.” — Paul Hahn, Chico interim city manager
A city volunteer from the Outreach and Engagement team met Tom Jenkins on Wednesday morning and told him to wait until 3 p.m. to get assessed. The volunteer showed up half an hour early, interviewed Jenkins and had him referred to move to the Pallet shelter that day.
“It was very simple. All I had to do was meet an action team member and he assessed me with three or four questions and he said, ‘OK you’re in. We’re taking you,” said Jenkins.
Jenkins said living on the streets with a physical disability made him the target of robberies.
“I didn’t have a chance. I stayed in my vehicle all this time, and they kept making us move until my registration went out, but now it’s parked over there where the Pallet shelters are.”
Chico’s new interim city manager, Paul Hahn, said that he’s happy with the number of volunteers that are coming forward and the amount of people who are moving into the shelter.
Hahn said the Outreach and Engagement team is also referring people to the Torres Shelter.
“The goal of the assessment is to understand what residents want, need and whether they have special needs,” said Hahn.
Part of the resources that will be available for residents of the Pallet shelter will be provided by the Butte County Department of
Behavioral Health and the Department of Employment and Social Services.
“Once we get them into the Pallet shelter or the Torres Shelter, we’ll have those services to help. The goal is to have mental and behavioral health people on site that can help those needs. It’s the same thing for people who are hunting for a job or need food stamps,” said Hahn.
Hahn said the shelter is completely voluntary for residents and that they can check themselves out anytime.
“There’s going to be certain rules — which is what we’re talking to the judge about — but those rules are whether or not there should be a curfew or should people have their dogs muzzled when in a public area, but those are safety issues from our perspective. We want people to feel safe in the shelter.”
The parties in the Chico v. Warren lawsuit are set to meet 1:30 p.m. today for the hearing by Magistrate Judge Kendall Newman at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.