Story derived from: The Press Telegram

LONG BEACH – After scrambling to find a winter shelter site year after year, the Long Beach Rescue Mission has bought what may become a permanent location when the shelter opens Wednesday.

The winter shelter will open at the former Atlantic Farms grocery store at 6845 Atlantic Ave. in North Long Beach. The shelter won’t take walk-ins, but people can catch a shuttle bus to the shelter each afternoon from Wednesday through March 15 at three locations in Long Beach and San Pedro.

“One of our hopes is to break the cycle of homelessness,” said the Rev. Jim Lewis, president and CEO of the nonprofit Rescue Mission, adding that when people go the Multiservice Center to get taken to the shelter they get access to other services as well.

Lewis said that the new building’s primary purpose isn’t as a shelter, but to serve as a warehouse for clothes, food and other donations the organization receives.

It will also house the winter shelter this year and could continue to be used as a shelter in the future “if it’s found to be appropriate,” Lewis said.

He noted that the shelter is far from the services on which the homeless rely, such as the downtown Multiservice Center nine miles away.

“That’s a concern as far as how will this work on a long-term basis. We have to make sure that it works,” Lewis said. “At this point we don’t have an alternative.”

Finding a location at all has always been a challenge for the Rescue Mission.

Year after year the mission has worked to line up a viable building that could be rented for just three months for the temporary shelter.

In April, the mission’s foundation purchased the empty building for $3 million, Lewis said. He said the mission plans to offset the cost by selling nearby property where the mission’s thrift store is located on Pine Avenue for a mixed- income housing project.

John Bosselmann smooths the concrete flooring for the Long Beach Rescue Mission as volunteers are busy preparing the Winter Shelter, scheduled to open on December 1. (Brittany Murray / Press Telegram)

At the shelter Monday, volunteers worked to prepare the building for its guests, removing piping and electrical wires left over from the market and filling holes in the concrete floor.

A heater has been installed in the building, along with a dining area where guests will be served breakfast and dinner. Green cots line the warehouse floor. Temporary showers will also be installed once the shelter has the proper permits.

Although the shelter only operates from late afternoon until morning, closing by 8 a.m. after shuttling guests back to downtown or San Pedro, it will remain open all day in the event of rain, Lewis said.

The Rescue Mission runs the shelter under a roughly $300,000 contract with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority for residents of Long Beach and the South Bay, Lewis said. The mission must provide 150 beds and is paid about $20 per guest per night.

About 30 staff members, including two or three case workers, keep the shelter running through the winter, Lewis said.

Calvin J. Fortenberry, director of communications, said the Rescue Mission is one of 13 agencies countywide that provide 1,700 emergency beds during the winter.

LAHSA is funded by the city and county of Los Angeles and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

paul.eakins@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1278

How to get to the winter shelter

The homeless can escape the cold by getting a shuttle to the Long Beach Rescue Mission’s winter shelter at the following locations:

1. San Pedro Channel Street Park and Ride, 610 Channel St. Pickup time is 4:15 p.m.
2. Long Beach Multiservice Center, 1301 W. 12th St. Pickup time is 4:30 p.m.
3. Long Beach First Congregational Church,
4. 241 Cedar Ave. (LB) Pickup time is 5:30 p.m.

All pickup times are approximate.

Dinner and breakfast are provided at the shelter, which closes each morning.

No drugs, alcohol or weapons are allowed.

Call 211 or go to www.lahsa.org for information on all of the homeless services available in Los Angeles County.