Turlock's We Care shelter back open but future remains uncertain
We Care reopened its doors on Friday after a month-long shutdown due to ongoing funding issues. The city's only men's emergency shelter typically shuts down for two weeks in the summer, but this time, they nearly didn't reopen at all.
Sot: michelle h / shelter coordinator0:22 "We're having problems with funding from the city, but our wonderful community came up with lots of donations for us, and so we're going to stretch those as far as we can," said shelter coordinator Michelle
CBS13 has extensively covered the funding fallout for the shelter after city leaders in Turlock refused to pledge $1 of support, causing the shelter to lose out on nearly $270,000 in state funding.
Now, it's back open but with a tighter budget. It normally costs the shelter $35,000 a month to operate. The shelter has 49 beds dedicated to men, but they're hoping new grants will secure more funding.
But for now, they're hoping those budget cuts can get them past fall because for clients like Simon, who only wanted to be addressed by his first name, a bed inside means everything.
"It's a lot better than sleeping outside or sitting in a chair all night," Simon said.
If We Care receives those grants, it will get just over $150,000 to put towards the shelter alone, with extra money going to its rapid rehousing and other programs.
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