For those of us on this rainy day, we are lucky to be sheltered by a roof over our head and a warm blanket, maybe even some hot cocoa. For the homeless of Orange County, my hometown, they are not so lucky. In a recent article published by the OC Register, what was formerly known as the Santa Ana Transit ran by OCTA, will be renovated into a safe haven and emergency shelter for the homeless during the rain. Mercy House, a popular organization that advocates for the homeless, fought hard to win over the space inside the transit and was allotted five months of use, but only when raining. This was after the supposed promises in which the Board of Supervisors had been presented with a petitioned proposal to provide more emergency shelters during El Nino and had agreed to provide more funding and supplies for shelter:

“Supervisors authorized a contract bid on Dec. 8, but seven weeks and several inches of rain later, no new beds are available. ‘The county did not keep its promise to provide those 440 beds,’ said Madeleine Spencer, an activist with Project Homelessness.”

As weather conditions continue to worsen, there has been an increase in activism and even a stronger push to open more permanent homeless shelters in Orange County. Shocked by the reluctance to help, I am hoping for Orange County citizens and organizations to continue pressing the Board of Supervisors and ensure that they receive the $500,000 funds to utilize for the support shelters for the homeless.

You can find the article here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/county-701855-shelter-homeless.html