Salinas and county leaders celebrate the opening of its first permanent homeless shelter.

At yesterday’s ribbon cutting ceremony for the county's and city of Salinas’ long-awaited homeless shelter, known as the SHARE Center, the stars of the event were those who represent the future and at least two people who are now in the past but far from forgotten.

The future came in the form of two 5th grade sisters from Gonzales, Clarissa Uribe-Rico and Paola Rico, invited by Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo to speak three years after they advocated for the opening of the center at a public hearing when they were in second grade.

“There were many adults who spoke against creating this center but that day there were also three little girls who sounded like the adults in the supervisors’ chamber, teaching and reminding the adults about compassion and having a heart for the most vulnerable,” Alejo said. Two of the three girls that made it to Salinas for the opening of SHARE were greeted with loud applause.

“We’re thankful that we have built this shelter for people that don’t have homes (so) that this could be called a home,” Paola Rico told the crowd.

A few of the speakers noted those who spoke out against the 100-bed SHARE Center during the planning stages. They described hearings and neighborhood meetings as contentious. It led one speaker to invoke one of the people of the past who was absent from the ceremony but very much present—the late Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter, there both as a large photo that stood behind the podium and, as Alejo noted, in spirit.

“The conversations that went on were not easy. I remember the community town halls that were being held...they were very much heated,” said Dominic Dursa, district director for Assemblymember Robert Rivas, D-Hollister. “I remember Mayor Gunter saying often, ‘Don’t worry, when those doors open people are going to change their minds.’”

Current Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig introduced Gunter’s daughters and other family members who came to the ceremony to honor their father’s legacy.

“Joe was a phenomenal leader for our community and had the ability when the city and the county were really arguing to reach across the aisle, talk to county supervisors and really move the needle on homelessness,” said Craig.

The SHARE, or Salinas Housing Advancement Resources & Education, Center, is the first of-its-kind “housing first” shelter in Monterey County, Craig noted. The shelter has a low barrier for entry, taking people where they are even with substance abuse and mental health issues. The center will also take pets—a persistent issue in the community with some homeless individuals with pets staying away from facilities that cannot accommodate animals.

The center was built after the city and county signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 and contributed initial funds to create building plans. Those efforts were rewarded in 2019 with a $6 million grant to build the shelter voted on by the Leadership Council of the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers. That agency for Monterey and San Benito counties was tasked by the state to distribute Homeless Emergency Aid Program funding initiated by former Gov. Jerry Brown.

The city and county asked the public to help name the shelter and Gunter’s name came up as a favorite choice of many because of his efforts to tackle homelessness. The other name that came up for the shelter was that of Ezzard Charles “Dread” McCall, who, like Gunter, passed away last year. His photo stood to the left of the podium across from Gunter's.

Salinas Community Development Director Megan Hunter called McCall, one of the leaders of the Salinas/Monterey County Homeless Union, a “tireless advocate,” for the unsheltered. McCall and friend Wes White could often be seen recording public meetings touching on the homeless issue and documenting the lives of the unsheltered, she said.

“They were really helping to demonstrate the humanity of those living on the street. Sometimes we lose that humanity because we’re always focused on the conditions they’re forced to live on,” Hunter said. Although SHARE was ultimately chosen as the name, Hunter said they are working on an appropriate memorial for McCall and Gunter inside the shelter.

Inside, the center is bright and colorful with places to gather or relax. It includes a health office, offices for social service advising, a playroom, a large commercial kitchen, laundry and showers. In the back of the building are the beds, sectioned off in smaller rooms with bunk beds. There are several rooms just for families, and one room for large families of up to seven people. There are two separate sections of rooms for men and women, to be shared by up to four people per room. 

Outside of the shelter there is a kennel for several pets, places to hang out and an area of raised garden beds.

The first family is expected to move in on Monday and there are already 68 people identified from the Salinas Warming Shelter—set to close permanently at the end of June—that will transition to the SHARE Center, according to Gary Tia, program manager for Bay Area Community Services, the nonprofit contracted to run the shelter.