San Diego’s winter homeless shelters opened for business today, 50 days earlier than usual. Alpha Project president Bob McElroy says he didn’t want to wait until the middle of December to begin providing service to the homeless. He says San Diego allowed the group to open the shelters early, but forced Alpha Project to raise the $150,000 it’ll cost to operate. The city couldn’t afford it. McElroy says he expects to serve about 1,500 hundred people this winter.
McElroy: Its not a place for people to hang out for the next four months. They’ve got things to do. And that’s to take the steps necessary so that they don’t need a homeless shelter anymore.”
The shelter program provides 210 beds each night. McElroy says many of the people using the shelter are over age 50 and at least half are struggling with disabilities.
