17 hours ago
Turlock homeless shelter at risk of closing to stay open through summer
After months of political back-and-forth, Turlock's emergency homeless shelter for men said it's staying open thanks to a wave of community donations.
The We Care shelter had requested a $10,000 grant through the city's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. But earlier this week, the Turlock City Council voted to remove the shelter from the list of approved nonprofits, citing uncertainty about its long-term status.
"We keep getting emails saying they're closing," said Mayor Amy Bublak during Tuesday's meeting. "I don't really want to extend money toward something when we have no absolute."
The vote follows an earlier council decision in April to withhold a symbolic $1 and a letter of support, both needed to unlock nearly $270,000 in state funding for the shelter. That move drew sharp criticism from Gov. Gavin Newsom and sparked statewide attention.
But despite the latest denial, We Care Director Sandy Singh said the shelter isn't going anywhere.
"Our community has really stepped up for us," Singh said. "We've received support from United Way, Stanislaus Community Foundation, and Kaiser and we're expecting more."
Singh said the donations currently total about $90,000, enough to fund operations for the next three months. The shelter typically shuts down for two weeks each July for cleaning and maintenance, but plans to reopen before the end of the month.
As for the $10,000 federal grant, Singh said they're still hopeful, but not relying on it.
The Turlock City Council will revisit the remaining CDBG funds during its next meeting on June 24.
