To let you know what it is like for families at the shelter: Arrive by bus at the Maxine Lewis shelter on Orcutt Rd at 4:00 p.m. for a meal and showers, and to sign in for the night All children must be under direct control at all times or risk being written up or evicted from the shelter. With a large number of children, or in the case of a single parent, that is very difficult. From there, families are bussed to the church of the month where they are to spend the night.
It is against the rules to bring anything extra to the night shelter. Everyone is wakened at 6:00 a.m. and must be off the property by 7:00 a.m. If they don’t have a car, families must then take 2 buses to the Prado Day Center for breakfast and lunch. Older children have to get to school, and cannot be on school property until 8:15 a.m. One option is for the parents to stay on the bus with their children until they can be dropped off at school. Families then go to Prado Day Center on the bus. There is a separate play area there for families with little children.
The Prado center closes at 3:00 p.m. and families then takes buses to pick up the school children, then go to the Maxine shelter for dinner and showers.
After 30 days, there is a lottery system because the shelter is overcrowded. Numbers are drawn, and some families cannot stay the night. This means that a family would have to find a way to get to a motel if they were not lucky enough to be selected. This can only be avoided by signing up for case management.
Posted by a public health nurse
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