Winter Shelter Shakeup for Healdsburg

The county’s official list of “warming centers” for the homeless this season does not include St. Paul’s Church on Matheson Street, which has historically served as Healdsburg’s local shelter. Instead, the go-to will now be L&M Village — our new motel-turned-shelter at the south end of town, operated by local nonprofit Reach for Home. The org’s CEO, Margaret Sluyk, says in an email that “if there is an emergency we will coordinate with St. Paul’s, but otherwise, it is the L&M.” Why the change? Sluyk says that “since we now have our 22 unit Interim housing program at the L&M, we do not have as many people in Northern Sonoma County needing winter shelter.” She also says the facilities at St. Paul’s no longer align with the county’s updated shelter guidelines. Even though it’s super rainy this week, it’s technically not cold enough for the county to “activate” its warming centers. (On that note, a recent column in the local Community Voice newspaper — titled “A call to action on winter warming centers” — criticized the Sonoma County government’s “complex and possibly overly restrictive criteria for opening a place to stay warm.”) However: The head of Reach for Home in Healdsburg says that “anyone who wants shelter when it is raining or at any time can work with our Street Outreach Case Managers who can find access and placement for them. This is ongoing and always an option.” You can reach these case managers by email at in**@re**********.org or by phone at (707) 433-6161. (County of Sonoma & Community Voice)