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ANAHEIM, Calif. (Feb. 1, 2024) — Anaheim’s leading work to address homelessness expands Sunday with overnight, cold weather shelters at churches to help those in need during challenging conditions and to offer a first step toward getting off the streets.
The temporary shelters are at four churches in central and west Anaheim and offer a combined 50 overnight beds.
The shelters will open during heavy rain and severe thunderstorms, high winds and when overnight temperatures drop below 45 degrees.
They’re opening this Sunday with a week of rain expected.
Overnight shelters will open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with a light breakfast provided before people check out each day.
The shelters will be carefully managed to ensure they help those in need and are good neighbors.
There are no walkups, and those staying must have a tie to Anaheim.
Access to the shelters is only through Anaheim’s Community Care Response Team at (714) 820-9090.
The team of outreach workers, who work seven days a week in our city, respond to calls by meeting people where they are, doing a brief assessment and then arranging transportation to and from overnight shelters.
While staying at shelters, everyone will be offered immediate and long-term help getting off the streets.
Anaheim provides access to ongoing case management, public services, healthcare including treatment for substance abuse disorder, longer-term shelter, rapid rehousing, family reunification, work programs and permanent supportive housing.
Funding for the shelters is by the county of Orange with nonprofit Love Anaheim providing the shelter coordination, staffing and operation.
Love Anaheim is part of our city’s larger effort to address homelessness and runs Better Way Anaheim, which offers volunteer work experience for those recovering from homelessness and looking to return to work.
The opening of the overnight shelters follows the end of previous cold weather shelters at the California National Guard’s armories in Santa Ana and Fullerton.
Anaheim is the only Orange County city to open its own cold weather shelters, serving as a model for other cities to follow.
The pilot program is set to open with one shelter offering up to 15 beds on the nights of Sunday, Feb. 4, Monday, Feb. 5, and Tuesday, Feb. 6.
If needed, additional shelters will open one at a time. The cold weather shelter program runs through April 15.
The shelters are at churches with locations undisclosed to safeguard privacy, discourage any walkup activity and encourage people to use them as a first step out of homelessness.
Anaheim also hosts the 325-bed Anaheim Emergency Shelter with the Salvation Army since 2019 and has been host city to the county’s Bridges at Kraemer Place, a 200-bed county shelter, since 2017.
Anaheim’s Community Care Response Team does daily outreach from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. offering shelter, services and resources with the goal of getting people on a path out of homelessness.
The outreach team regularly pairs with the Anaheim Police Department’s dedicated homeless assessment liaison officer teams and two teams from the county’s Be Well OC, a mental health outreach service that often works with those on the street.
Anaheim has nearly 400 permanent supportive apartments among nearly 4,000 affordable apartments in our city.
Permanent supportive homes combine affordable, nominal rents with basic daily support and access to services to prevent people from falling back into homelessness.
Learn more about Anaheim’s leading efforts to address homelessness at Anaheim.net/homeless.
