By Paola Baker /Staff Writer
Posted in the Daily Press – November 26, 2018
(To read entire article  CLICK HERE)

VICTORVILLE — As temperatures drop, local charities are finding ways to provide shelter to the homeless.

Authorities prepared Monday to open the Victor Valley Community Warming Shelter at the High Desert Events Center. Organized by the High Desert Homeless Services agency, the facility can house more than 40 people from the cold.

High Desert Homeless Services director Jimmy Waldron said the agency is using some of the buildings available at the fairgrounds to open up the warming shelter as organizers work to set up a larger, military-style compound.

“The fairgrounds are very accommodating. They see the benefit of what we’re doing and have supported us from the very beginning,” Rescue Mission Alliance Victor Valley director Bill Edwards said.

The set-up includes military tents, portable restrooms, electrical power, heaters, outdoor lighting and sinks. The larger facility is expected to be ready just before Christmas. A larger modular building also remains in progress.

The community shelter opens every year when nighttime temperatures drop to 40 degrees or lower. Nighttime temperatures were expected to drop to the mid-30s Monday, Edwards said.

The shelter is run by volunteers. Edwards said three local charities, including the Rescue Mission, are partnering with High Desert Homeless Services to provide 10 to 12 volunteers each night.

“We are supplementing the other nights as we go, but we would love to have other agencies participate, or any volunteer-minded resident,” Edwards said.