Salinas winter shelter set to open, but permanent location remains elusive.

The wind and rain that came with the first storms of the season on the weekend of Oct. 15-16 are a reminder of what is to come for those living outside. While this winter is predicted to be less severe than last, government officials, service providers and advocates for the homeless are all looking for ways to provide emergency lodging in the short-term while searching for a location for a permanent shelter.

While a shelter on the Monterey Peninsula looks unlikely to materialize again this year, a winter warming shelter is set to open in Salinas on Nov. 1.

This year the shelter can again accommodate up to 68 men, women and children, and will move from 215 Lincoln St. across from City Hall, where it has been located for the past two years, to the former allU.S. Credit Union building at 20 W. Market St., next to the train station.

The city of Salinas and Monterey County will split the $240,000 cost for the shelter to stay in operation through May 1, 2017. As in years past, the Marina-based nonprofit Community Homeless Solutions will manage the shelter’s day-to-day operations.

While there are nine other shelters operating in Monterey County during the winter months, all but the Salinas Winter Warming Shelter provide services to only targeted demographics, such as women or adolescents.

Monterey County has asked Community Homeless Solutions and other organizations to scout locations for a year-round drop-in shelter for men, women and children.

“We’re trying to keep this on the radar,” says Elliot Robinson, social services director for Monterey County. “Of all the things we need to identify – location, operations and financing – location is the most difficult.”

Katherine Thoeni, executive officer for the Coalition of Homeless Services Providers, echoes this sentiment.

“What we’ve been hearing so far is only chatter because creating a shelter is a huge challenge,” Thoeni says. “If we could identify a location, then we could work on making it a reality.”

Among the hurdles in finding a location for a permanent shelter is the fact the people don’t often welcome these services in their neighborhoods, Thoeni adds.

This was made clear at an Oct. 18 Monterey City Council meeting, when more than a dozen residents opposed rezoning the North Fremont area to allow for emergency homeless shelters. In this case, the city didn’t even have plans for a specific shelter, but only intended to rezone an area to fulfill a city-planning-related state mandate.