New homeless shelter opens in Sonoma

Ground was broken last week for Sonoma’s new homeless shelter, ending years of effort by the Sonoma Overnight Support organization to provide a permanent site for housing the homeless.
Construction of the $505,000 shelter, located at 151 First Street West, is expected to be completed by November. It is financed by both the state and the city, with the city providing 40 percent of the money.
In years past, said David Brigode, the administrator of SOS, his organization has put up homeless persons at motels on a night-to-night basis when the weather made it necessary. Burt Brigode said that was expensive and also made it difficult for SOS to provide on-going help to the homeless. The new permanent facility will have case workers whose job is, among other things, to help people get back on track to finding permanent housing.
The shelter when completed in November will be next to the renovated police station and is expected to hold up to 10 people. Each person will be allowed to stay for no more than three weeks. The Community Health Clinic will provide medical care.
The facility, say officials, will be drug, alcohol and smoke free, something that will be enforced by an on-site manager who will staff the shelter every night.
The proposed shelter was subject to early criticism, notably focusing on its proximity to Depot Park, a fact, which critics contended, might lead to an increase in the number of homeless in the area. Shelter proponents, however, countered with SOS officials stating that well over a majority of the people they serve are single mothers and other women who are anxious for help along the road back to self-sufficiency.