We, the undersigned

Call on our cities and county to ensure that the system of homeless shelters being constructed in our cities and county BE HUMANE and take into account the fundamental dignity and actual needs of the people that these shelters are created to serve.

Specifically, we urge you to implement the following recommendations:

(1) Create a system for secure storage of the personal property of people experiencing homelessness. Without reasonable provision for the storage and safety of homeless people’s possessions (for example, a site with a tub or shopping cart - sized public locker system), homeless encampments are inevitable.

(2) Meet the basic medical and hygienic needs of the homeless people in our midst. Beyond simply assuring access to public restrooms throughout our cities / county during the day, we ask that you:

a) Establish a system of easily accessible medical / hygienic facilities (perhaps through medical vans or hygienic equivalents) to be made available to homeless people during the day, so that they could be treated for simple ailments like colds or the flu, as well as have their persons and their belongings “deloused” (freed from bed bugs / lice)

b) Establish a system of infirmaries and, if needed, one-night quarantine wards for those arriving ill or infested with bugs, so that homeless persons arriving at the shelters for the night can become confident that they will not simply contract the flu or pests while sleeping at the shelters.

(3) Do not close shelters (that is, do not expel the people that the shelters are serving) before a reasonable hour (7-8 am). No one should be forced to leave a shelter at 5 or 6 am, literally into the cold and darkness, before most other businesses and services open.

(4) Establish a system of “day centers,” often called “multipurpose centers,” so that people experiencing homelessness have safe places to go to during the day where they could have many of the above mentioned needs met, as well have places to receive counseling or simply to rest / recreate.

(5) Respect the right of people experiencing homelessness to file complaints against homeless service providers and allow them to document the problems and complaints they have about the shelters through photography, video, or audio recordings.

We believe that these are not difficult matters to resolve and their resolution will not only make the system of emergency shelters being constructed more humane but also much more effective. Many more homeless persons will take advantage of a humane system built around their needs.

Finally, we are under no illusion that humanizing the emerging Emergency Shelter System will in itself “solve” the larger problem of homelessness in our county. That problem will only be solved here when our county’s 5000 people currently experiencing homeless become able to secure permanent housing. Still, while this problem is confronted and solved, we believe that our county’s weakest members deserve shelters worthy of the name.

Signed,

Fr. Dennis Kriz, OSM, Pastor, St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church, Member, Fullerton Interfaith Ministerial Association; Member, Housing is a Human Right, OC.  Plus all four Deacons of St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church; Entire Servite Community working at St. Philip Benizi and Parish Council Council President, Diana Trout and a good portion of the Council's members. Institutions and groups who have signed the statement as of March 3 2019 include:

1. Eve Garrow, American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California;
2. Bird Law Group, Costa Mesa
   
3. Theresa "Tita" Smith, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Orange County;
4. The Congregational Church of Fullerton;
5. Rabbi Stephen A. Einstein of Fountain Valley;
6. Rev Mandye Yates of the First Christian Church of Fullerton and the Head of the Fullerton Interfaith Ministerial Association;
7. Rev Paula Farris, First United Methodist Church of Fullerton;
8. Housing is a Human Right OC;
9. The Islamic Institute of Orange County;
10. InDivisible 45, Irvine;
11. InSight Magazine, Irvine;
12. International Educators Hall of Fame, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Sacramento;
13. Irvine for Everyone;
14. Irvine United Congregational Church Advocates for Peace and Justice; 
15. Fr. Bill Barman, Pastor, La Purisima Catholic Church, Orange;
16. nofearOCnetwork, Anaheim;
17. Oma Angels Foundation
18. Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO)
19. Orange County Equality Coalition;
20. Moderator Anne Sivley, Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery of Los Ranchos;
21. Auxillary Bishop Timothy Freyer of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange; 
22. Greg Walgenbach, Director of the Office of Life, Justice and Peace at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange;
23. St. Juliana Conference of the St. Vincent De Paul Society, Fullerton;
24. Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange;
    
25. Unitarian/ Universalist Congregation of Fullerton;
26. WeRThe Change (founder, Kimberly Adams)
27. Women Drivers Interfaith Group (founder, Dot C. Leach);
28. Women For: Orange County.
29. Youth on the Move, Inc. Santa Ana, Anaheim, Sacramento.