Residents of the Modesto shelter that’s quickly running out of money aren’t sure what they would do if they’re turned away.
“We’re worried this time. We’re real worried,” Michael Ballard, 58, told The Modesto Focus on Monday just outside the ACES shelter, short for Access Center Emergency Shelter.
The Salvation Army runs the 182-bed low-barrier shelter at Ninth and D streets in a contract with Stanislaus County, which relies on state money that’s drying up. The county only has six more months of funding left for the shelter, after that new funding would be required to keep it open.
“What are they going to do when they let 182 people out of here?” said “Jet,” who asked that her real name not be used. She came to Modesto nine months ago on a bus, never left, and now lives at the ACES shelter with her dog, Louie.
ACES is one of two shelters at the same location, both operated by the Salvation Army; the second, the Berberian shelter, has 180 beds. The Modesto Gospel Mission also has a shelter with 150 beds on Yosemite Boulevard.
Many unhoused people are reluctant to give up partners, pets and possessions, and rules requiring separation are considered barriers that keep some out of shelters. ACES has fewer such rules, so it’s known as a low-barrier shelter.
Upset at slow progress, state leadership a few months ago canceled Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention money, or HHAP, going to counties and large cities in the current fiscal year and indicated they’ll get only half the next fiscal year.
Modesto’s Downtown Streets Team also in jeopardy
News of ACES’s financial crisis comes at a bad time for Modesto, whose Downtown Streets Team is also teetering on the brink. That group’s parent organization will cease helping people find housing and jobs in exchange for picking up trash in 16 Northern California cities, including Modesto, by the end of October.
Downtown Streets has helped Jet, a volunteer, find purpose. She’s been sober nine months, found a part-time job at a local gas station, and recently saved enough to buy her first car. But housing remains out of reach for her, while other shelter residents are much further from that goal.
“(Downtown Streets) helps people, I’ve seen them, get places to live in and they’re closing that down, too,” Jet said. “So what is everybody going to do around here?”
Local leaders are scrambling to keep both programs – the homeless shelter and Downtown Streets – running in some fashion, despite huge obstacles.
Since opening five-and-a-half years ago, ACES has provided shelter for 2,762 people. Of those 213 have moved into temporary, transitional or permanent housing.
A survey of ACES residents in May, June and July found that 58% had zero income; 53% were white (with Latino and Black residents at 11% and 12% respectively); 49% struggled with mental health and 28% with substance abuse; and most had a physical or mental disability. Also, nearly half were 55 or older, and 71% were middle-aged or older.
“There are complex, overlapping challenges that make it difficult for residents to transition quickly into stable housing or other long-term solutions,” reads a county staff report.
The shelter recently has been running at or near capacity, County Chief Executive Officer Jody Hayes said.
Last week, Stanislaus County sent the Salvation Army notice that it intends to cancel a lease agreement by April 1 if more funding can’t be found. A second agreement – that the Salvation Army operate the shelter for the county – remains intact for now.
“Transitioning to a new model is likely inevitable,” reads the county’s letter, predicting “operational changes” if a new funding isn’t found.
Those could include downsizing beds or services, or both. Instead of providing help 24/7 to find jobs and housing or with mental health or substance abuse treatment, for example, the facility could just provide shelter overnight. Or it could accommodate fewer than 182 people.
“It’s too early to talk about what next steps would look like,” Major Darren Stratton of the Salvation Army said Monday. “I am encouraged, right now, that the city, the county and the Salvation Army are very positive and future-oriented. We’re all trying to look for a long-term solution to keep the shelter in service to the community.”
Could Stanislaus cities help pay to keep shelter open?
Although ACES is in Modesto, the city isn’t large enough to qualify for HHAP money, which goes to all counties. Stanislaus receives HHAP, and that source provides 89% of the shelter’s funding this year.
Modesto Councilman Eric Alvarez, whose district includes downtown Modesto and the shelter, would like to explore whether some shelter residents initially came from surrounding cities, and whether those cities could help contribute.
“This is a moment of cooperation, not finger pointing,” Alvarez said. “I’m committed to keeping it open but we need a plan that’s fair to Modesto and serves the entire region responsibly. That includes being strategic in including other cities in a funding formula.”
County Supervisor Terry Withrow favors more, not less, mental health and substance abuse services. “If people don’t get treatment as a main focus, you’re not going to solve it, you’re just enabling,” he said. “You can build all the tiny houses you want, but if you don’t have treatment, they’re not going to get better and won’t stay in those houses.”
Stanislaus supervisors will review ACES’s plight at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, during their regular board meeting in the basement chamber at Tenth Street Place. They might see some shelter people in the audience, Ballard said.
“That’s an opportunity to go down there,” the shelter resident said. “This is our chance to be heard, as long as they don’t send the troops in.”
Nuno Rodriguez, 49, is a Modesto native who became homeless in 2019 and now stays in the ACES shelter with his white pit bull, Molly. His message to leaders is straightforward: “Keep it open. Keep it open for us. You know, we need it.”
Garth Stapley and Vivienne Aguilar are reporters for The Modesto Focus, a project of the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact Stapley at garth@cvlocaljournalism.org. Contact Aguilar at vivienne@cvlocaljournalism.org.
You must be logged in to post a comment.