Homeless shelter seeking new site

BURBANK — Operators of the winter homeless shelter at the Burbank National Guard Armory are scrambling to find an alternate location capable of housing 50 of their clients during two planned closures of their current site.

The Salvation Army of Burbank has agreed to take in up to 50 homeless people during the planned closures Feb. 6 to 8, and again for the same dates in March, but that would cover only half of the average crowd that uses the emergency winter shelter every night, said Carrie Gatlin, vice president of government relations and special project for the Union Rescue Mission of Los Angeles, which oversees the operation.

The last day of the winter shelter program is March 15.

Moving to an alternate armory isn’t an option for service providers because all local bases are planned for simultaneous combat training drills, officials said.

“There are a variety of options for shelters, and that’s something that really needs to be worked out between the county and the service providers,” said Lt. Col. Jon Siepmann, director of public affairs for the state National Guard.

The Union Rescue Mission has been working to secure alternate sites since being awarded the county winter shelter contract last year, but options have proved elusive.

It wasn’t until Jan. 9 that the Union Rescue Mission settled on an agreement with the Salvation Army Burbank Corps to take in 50 clients. And despite repeated calls for additional help, no one in the tri-city area has stepped forward, Gatlin said.

A lack of space among area churches and social service organizations has emerged as the biggest hindrance to the search, but Gatlin said her agency was flexible enough to make do with a range of accommodations.

“We always seem to work it out,” she said.

The Burbank Temporary Aid Center, which services the area homeless population, isn’t equipped to handle a shelter, said the agency’s director, Barbara Howell.

“If we were, we would certainly step up to the plate,” she said.

For others, where space isn’t an issue, programming and resources are.

The Salvation Army Glendale Corps has a gym but lacks the ancillary facilities — locker rooms, showers, kitchen — to handle 50 homeless people, said Rick White, the organization’s social services director.