By Brooklynn Wong
In its slow and steady march toward opening up a homeless shelter by the end of the year, the city of Buena Park now has an operator for its 150-bed Navigation Center.
Mercy House, which operates Bridges at Kraemer Place, Anaheim’s 200-bed shelter, as well as a 200-bed shelter in Santa Ana, won out as the best fit for a “qualified nonprofit organization to manage the day to day” operations of the shelter, according to Buena Park Purchasing Manager Mark Averell.
Along with Mercy House, Illumination Foundation and the Salvation Army were being considered.
A five-member committee was appointed to make the decision. Those five were Buena Park Police Chief Corey Sianez, Korean Community Services Director Ellen Ahn, Orange County Homelessness Program Coordinator Juanita Preciado, City of Anaheim Community Preservation Manager Sandra Sagert and CityNet Vice President Matt Bates.
This committee unanimously recommended Mercy House.
It then came up for City Council vote at the May 28 City Council Meeting. Councilman Connor Traut thought that an Oversight Committee needed to be formed, and that a decision like this ought not be rushed into, and felt more steps were necessary to make an informed decision.
However city staff spoke to the urgency of all Navigation Center-related decisions, and said that time was of the essence here.
Traut abstained from voting, but the four remaining Council Members voted to approve Mercy House.
The shelter is being constructed at 6490 Caballero Blvd. to appease Judge David O. Carter, who mandated that area cities cannot remove transient individuals from public places until there are more shelter beds available for them to utilize.
The city has received a Homeless Emergency Aid Program grant that will fund the construction of the shelter.
Per the city of Buena Park, the Navigation Center will be a transitional, temporary shelter, and clients will be admitted on referral basis only, and will never be admitted by walk-in.
Cities in the North Service Planning Area are the only ones that can refer individuals to this shelter. Transients in Buena Park will be given priority.
The Buena Park Police Department will oversee the security plan for the shelter.
The city expects people to stay at the shelter for an average of around 80 days.
Clients there will not be permitted to come and go by foot.
This all comes after about a year of debate. A site near the intersection of Knott and Lincoln was first being considered, but there was considerable resident opposition to this, as it was in a residential and commercial area that children often walk through to get to nearby schools.
The Caballero site is in an industrial, manufacturing complex, not in nearly as close proximity to schools, homes and walk-up businesses.
