A day-time resource and referral service for community members who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless is one need that the Turlock Homeless Action Committee relayed in their update report to the Turlock City Council on Tuesday.Since its inception after the September 2008 report on homelessness commissioned by the City Council and prepared by the Center for Public Policy Studies at California State University, Stanislaus, the Homeless Action Committee has been working on the problem of homelessness in Turlock.The committee members — made up of community and business leaders, faith-based organizations and other homeless service providers, as well as members of the homeless community — have created a strategy to address those in need in Turlock and are now in the process of implementing their short-term and long-term goals. “This is a community-wide effort and we’ll need not only the support of the council, but the community at large,” said Chris Kiriakou, a member of the THAC.The day resource center is one of the short-term goals the THAC have identified, along with bringing together service providers and expanding current overnight options for the homeless.“We found there are a lot of services here in Turlock, but there is a lack of coordination,” said Trina Walley, a member of THAC.According to Walley, the day resource center would consolidate information on what services are available to those in need in Turlock and how to access them. The resource center would give the homeless a place to be during the daytime hours while providing case management, counseling and limited training and healthcare services.“These are preventative measures,” Walley said, “getting the right information into the right hands, at the right time.”The resource center is needed to fill a gap in the Homeless Action Committee’s Continuum of Care — a model they are using to address homelessness in Turlock. The Continuum of Care includes preventative measures, for those at risk of becoming homeless; services for the homeless such as temporary shelter, a transitional group house and transitional individual housing; and eventually permanent housing and community integration.The Homeless Action Committee is seeking support from community members and organizations. For more information on the committee, contact Barbara Bawanan at 668-4853 or barbusf@sbcglobal.net.To contact Kristina Hacker, e-mail khacker@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2004.
Resource center needed in Turlock, says homeless committee
