In the midst of freezing temperatures, high winds, and blizzard conditions, the Twentynine Palms City Council authorized city funds to provide hotel rooms for unhoused people in the city. An initial plan to rent 13 hotel rooms at the Americas Best Value Inn Twentynine Palms was greatly expanded, as an additional five rooms were utilized at the American Inn. Owing to the needs of families with children and pets, another six rooms were rented at the Motel 6 in Twentynine Palms using additional funding secured by Wayne Hamilton.
Jen Defalco, who runs Act of Kindness and works with Morongo Basin Arch assisted with outreach to unhoused people in the area, and provided food for those taking shelter through the program.
Ultimately, rooms were provided for 46 unhoused people, including 4 children, from Thursday through Sunday, providing a roof, a warm bed, and a hot shower for people who would have been otherwise exposed to the punishing winter storm conditions.
Funding for this initiative was directed by members of City Council, and came from a general housing fund made up of money raised through the city’s transient occupancy tax, which is an additional tax added to all short term vacation rentals.
