A Salinas warming shelter closes due to code violations.

Two months, two shelters closed. It’s been a rough stretch for Salinas’ homeless. The latest effort, a warming shelter at 20 Soledad St. in Chinatown, closed after being open for only a week.

That location, which has been a restaurant in the past and was most recently a church, is operated by the Salinas Homeless Union.

City officials found code violations, including a lack of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, exposed wiring and lack of proper egress, on June 6.

Officials are giving Homeless Union President Wes White until June 20 to fix the conditions, but he plans to instead turn the location into an office for Salinas Homeless Union.

White says he opened the shelter knowing it wasn’t up to code. “I was thinking we would roll with it and eventually get compliant,” he says. “I had good intentions. There are rules and laws, and then there is life.

“I was expecting a little more hand-holding [from the city]. You’re talking about the most vulnerable people. It was empty, available and right in Chinatown.”

White intended to raise funds for building materials.

The closure comes less than two months after a nearby seasonal and family-friendly shelter, jointly operated by the city and county, closed.

Add to that, nonprofit Dorothy’s Place shut down its Women Alive shelter at the end of April because of cash flow concerns. In the meantime, Dorothy’s has been distributing motel vouchers and has placed eight women in motel rooms.

Executive Director Jill Allen says the shelter program at Dorothy’s will reopen on June 16 with the ability to house 16 women overnight on a conditional-use permit, with hopes of expansion in the future.