On Dec. 4, the City Council approved the armory as an acceptable location to house the shelter after a lengthy meeting in which more than a dozen speakers took turns speaking for and against the site, and council members debated the merits of opening up the city to a homeless shelter for the first time, which happened on Dec. 12.
For the past two months, the shelter has averaged about 130 people per night, a sharp increase from the first week when about a dozen spent the night under the tall ceilings and wide expanse of the armory.
But as the closing date nears, people are starting to leave, said Carrie Gatlin, the rescue mission’s vice president of government relations.
“Our numbers are going down each night. Some are going to [shelters in Glendale], some are disappearing,” she said. “Some of the more vulnerable we’ve tried to put in transitional housing.”
For rescue mission Chief Executive Andy Bales, the closing of the shelter is bittersweet.
“We’ve had some really great people come through here,” he said. “One 87-year-old woman who came over here from Asia found her daughter living on the street and decided to be homeless with her for over a year. We gave them a motel voucher and found them a permanent shelter. Others have gotten jobs and landed on their feet.
“But lots of people are frantic about the closure. We’re trying to connect people with permanent shelters and going to continue working with . . . the city to come up with a year-round solution. We are here to assist Burbank and Glendale.”
The city of Burbank is working on finding solutions to accommodate the area’s transients, said Councilman Dave Golonski, who, along with Councilwoman Anja Reinke and city staff members, make up the city’s Homeless Services Subcommittee.
