Tempers flared at yesterday’s community input meeting on using the abandoned County Fire Station 35 in Joshua Tree as a homeless facility. The non-profit Family Assistance Program sought to collect community input on how the space could best be used to serve the Morongo Basin’s homeless population, as well as provide some of their own proposals for the property. Reporter Andrew Dieleman was there and files this report…
More than 50 people attended yesterday’s 2-hour meeting to give input on how the Family Assistance Program could use abandoned Fire Station 35 in Joshua Tree to serve the Morongo Basin’s homeless population. Initial concerns from community members stemmed from the misconception that the facility would be used as a permanent overnight homeless shelter. These concerns included maintaining the safety of the surrounding Joshua Tree community, monitoring the sobriety of those utilizing the services, and whether the funding to maintain a homeless shelter was available. Many meeting attendees even proposed moving the location to Yucca Valley where stores and jobs for the homeless are more easily accessible. Family Assistance Program Executive Director Darryl Evey clarified that the proposed program was to use the fire station as a day-use drop-in center, not as a permanent overnight homeless shelter, and that the initial proposal would be primarily for homeless youth between the ages of 14 and 24. Evey also clarified that the lease with the County had already been signed for the Joshua Tree location and that the program could not be moved to Yucca Valley due to zoning laws. Many meeting attendees disapproved of a youth-based drop-in center, stating that the current focus needs to be on assisting the older members of the homeless community ages 25 and up. Evey stated that the community input was much appreciated and that it would be processed and utilized to prepare for the next community input meeting, a date for which has not been set.
