IMACA proposes homeless ‘navigation center’
Service-enriched shelter would include 10-bed temporary living facility
The homeless situation in Bishop has not gone away, but neither has the effort to address the problem and move people out of their vehicles and off the streets and into safe housing where they will have access to a range of services.
Inyo Mono Advocates for Community Action (IMACA) has proposed creating a 10-bed “low-barrier navigation center” on the ground floor of its current, two-story building at 137 E. South Street in Bishop.
In an overview of the proposed project, IMACA states the shelter will be a “low-barrier, serviceenriched shelter” with a goal of providing “temporary living facilities while case managers connect individuals experiencing homelessness to income, public benefits, health services, shelter and housing.” The navigation center would be staffed 24 hours a day by trained “street outreach staff specialists.”
The shelter is designed to help “people in crisis experiencing homelessness,” said Larry Emerson, IMACA’s housing and planning director in an interview. The goal is to “get those people in a shelter and get them services ASAP to help stabilize them,” he added.
The ultimate outcome would be to move those people into more stable, long-term housing, Emerson said.
The description of the Navigation Center notes it will “be a 24-hour facility providing up to ten (10) crisis beds, meals, medical assessment, and off-site pet care at local kennels to unsheltered individuals …. Overnight guests will have a secure area to store possessions while they eat, get a shower, rest and receive services. … Emergency shelter at participating hotels will also be provided to individuals and families requiring immediate shelter whenever possible. The goal of this program is to link unsheltered people in crisis to needed services immediately and transition them quickly to other forms of emergency shelter, transitional housing, supportive housing, permanent supportive housing and permanent housing.”
People coming into the crisis shelter will have to comply with “a strict code of conduct,” which bans weapons, drug and alcohol use, and “aggressive behavior.”
With the center open and staffed 24 hours a day, Emerson said it will become “a new asset for the community and law enforcement” when facing a number of issues related to the homeless population.
Several grants have been secured that will allow IMACA to purchase the non-profit’s current office building at 137 East South St., along with the adjoining property that includes the agency’s warehouse and a singlefamily home.
In addition, IMACA is currently leasing the residence behind the warehouse and the two dwelling units west of the office building. All three units are currently occupied by families in the process of securing permanent housing.
Several “point-in-time surveys” have revealed Inyo County’s homeless population has been more than 100 for several years. Emerson said the 2020 survey showed 123 homeless people in Inyo
County, with most of those in the greater Bishop area.
A Conditional Use Permit for the navigation center will have to be approved by the city of Bishop. The city Planning Commission will consider the CUP application at its Aug. 24 regular meeting. A community meeting on the proposal will be hosted by IMACA on Aug. 11, at 6 p.m. at the non-profit group’s offices on East South Street.
The IMACA offices and proposed navigation center on East South Street are located in a commercial area set back from U.S. Highway 395 and roughly between Ace Hardware and Perry Motors.
The navigation center is the latest effort by IMACA and its partnering agencies to provide assistance to the area’s homeless population. Earlier this year, IMACA tailored a plan to create a “safe parking” location at the Nazerene Church on West Line Street where those living in their cars could safely park and spend the night. Despite approvals from the nearby school administration, Northern Inyo Hospital and local law enforcement, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors killed the proposal by a 3-2 vote after a lengthy session of pro and con public comment. Supervisors Rick Pucci, Bishop, Jennifer Roeser, Independence, and Matt Kingsley, Lone Pine, voted no, while Jeff Griffiths and Dan Toheroh, both representing Bishop, voted yes.
Local advocacy group Inyo 350 is urging people to show support for the new navigation center at both the community meeting and the Planning Commission meeting.
“Sad experience with the Safe Parking proposal has taught us that opposition to reasonable proposals can always rear its ugly head, so please consider attending these meetings to show your support for this project,” the group stated in an email.