Shelter for Homeless to Open in Carlsbad

After a two-year struggle between comfort and conscience, Carlsbad residents, city officials and immigrant advocates celebrated the coming of an emergency shelter for homeless farm workers.

The razed dirt and temporary-trailer accommodations at the La Posada de Guadalupe de Carlsbad represent a modest but intrepid first step toward addressing North County’s growing homeless problem, said shelter supporter Oscar De La Riva. Riva spoke at a Sunday afternoon dedication ceremony.

“The issue of migrant shelters has been around for (a) hundred years,” De La Riva said. “And it’s still controversial. If this shelter does well, it can change the way cities think about programs to address migrant workers’ needs.”

When the shelter opens next month, meals and beds for up to 50 men each day will be available, said Kathleen Wellman, president of a citizens group that lobbied city planners and the state’s Emergency Shelter Program for backing. Visitors must be working or seeking employment and may stay at the shelter for up to 60 days, Wellman said.

Visitors have access to a federally funded job referral and training program housed across the street from the shelter, said Jim Lundgren, director of the city of Carlsbad Hiring Center. The shelter and center are located on Impala Drive in an industrial area just west of the Carlsbad Safety Center on Orion Way.

Also to be set up at the shelter is a legal referral office where follow-up processing of amnesty applications will take place, and counselors will answer questions about other immigration matters, said Pablo Jimenez, a placement specialist for the San Diego County SER/JOBS for Progress Inc.

Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego secured a state grant for $345,000 to cover the two-year lease for the land and building costs, said Sister RayMonda DuVall, executive director of the group. Catholic Charities will manage the shelter and is raising money to cover the first year’s operating costs. DuVall estimated expenses the first year at more than $200,000.

Homeless advocates are now gauging the shelter’s success in drawing diverse groups together, said Wellman, president of the Caring Citizens of Carlsbad.

“People have different reactions to the horrible homeless situation,” Wellman said. “The homeless feel abandoned. Homeowners and businesses feel threatened. Everyone is overwhelmed. . . . People have to realize, that’s exactly why we should be coming together. The residents, the homeless, the state can’t come up with the answers all on their own.”