Santa Maria Homeless Outreach Services ramping up for Winter
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Santa Maria homeless shelters are gearing up for the cold months ahead.
Shelters, warming centers, and various donation drives are seeing an increase in demand as overnight temperatures drop.
Earlier this year, governor Newsom authorized an operation to clean up homeless encampments across the state, including right here at the Santa Maria riverbed.
“We went into the riverbed those weeks that it was ordered to be cleared out and just tried to build relationships with folks,” says Chris Rutledge from central coast rescue mission.
Now that it's empty and it's getting colder…
shelters, emergency services, and warming centers are filling up.
“We think about California and we think about this area, especially about having, you know, sunny days and sunny weather, but the temperature can significantly drop. then it becomes important, especially for individuals to have some form of shelter,” says Maria Martino, at the Santa Maria Public Defender’s Office.
Service managers here in Santa Maria are holding multiple outreach programs over the next few weeks & opening their shelters as warming centers.
“We serve at least 100 meals to people experiencing homelessness every day, and we also provide a couple thousand meals to residents of our residential recovery program,” says Rutledge.
The central coast rescue mission is giving away meal boxes at the Santa Maria foursquare church this Thursday as part of their “Thanksgiving Week of Hope,”
and the public defender’s sleeping bag drive continues through the first week of December.
“We're very thankful for all the generous donations that we received from everyone in the community,” says Clarissa Ornelas at the Santa Maria public defender’s office.
“That's always something that's very moving for us to see is, as a community that there are so many people who are willing to give,” says Martino.
Warming centers are opening across the central coast tonight as early as 5:30pm, and the public are encouraged to help by donating money or items to any of the local charities listed herein.
