Shelter to open due to high heat
Bridge to Home plans to offer refuge from rising temperatures from July 4-7
Bridge to Home plans to open in the afternoons for the city’s homeless population from Wednesday through Saturday in anticipation of a heat wave in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The nonprofit that operates the city’s seasonal homeless shelter will provide a cool place for people to reside from noon until 8:30 p.m. July 4-6. It will run on July 7 from noon until 5:30 p.m. as temperatures rise to over 100 degrees in the area.
The regular dinner service from May until October, Feeding It Forward, will be served those nights, too.
Donations of water, ice and snacks are needed for these additional shelter days, said Peggy Edwards, interim executive director and president of the Bridge to Home board of directors.
In addition, volunteers are also needed to assist and may contact Olga Ruiz at olga.ruiz@btohome.org. Donated items can be delivered to the Bridge to Home shelter on Drayton Street afternoon and at the administrative office located at 23752 Newhall Ave. before noon.
For future days, when temperatures are forecasted to be above 99 degrees, Bridge to Home plans to open the shelter to provide further relief, Edwards said.
The homeless shelter runs full time from November to March, but Edwards said plans are to have a year-round shelter “as soon as possible.”
Before the year-round shelter is built, the shelter is slated to open for heatwave days, officials said.
cduan @signalscv.com