80 Beds At Severe Weather Emergency Shelter In San Rafael To Open For 2nd Year
MARIN COUNTY (CBS SF) -- There will again be 80 more severe weather emergency shelter beds to bolster Marin County's 190 year-round shelter beds during severe weather events this winter, the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services said Monday.
The shelter with the 80 beds will be located at the Marin Health and Wellness Campus at 3240 Kerner Blvd. in San Rafael. It is a low-barrier shelter that welcomes anyone if they are respectful of other shelter residents and staff. It will be open 7 p.m.-7 a.m., and a hot dinner and light breakfast are provided.
The 190 beds are located at various shelters in San Rafael and Novato including the Mill Street Center for adults in San Rafael, New Beginnings Center in Novato, and a family emergency shelter center in San Rafael, Ashley Hart McIntyre, homelessness policy analyst for the Health and Human Services Department, said.
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Department officials also revised the severe weather emergency activation criteria for the Nov. 1, 2019-March 31, 2020 winter period.
"It's more flexible this year and it's based on risks to public health and safety," McIntyre said.
The criteria that activates a severe weather emergency shelter plan includes a forecast of temperatures dropping below 45 degrees for two consecutive days and hazardous conditions such as more than one inch of rain each day, or flash flood warnings or watches, or wind chills or extreme temperature changes.
Additionally, if temperatures are forecast to drop below 40 degrees with hazardous conditions, or the air quality is forecast to hazardous, then the plan will be activated.
The existing criteria that activates the plan is a forecast for overnight temperatures below 38 degrees for a minimum of three days. The county public health officer makes severe weather declarations.
Marin County reported in January that 1,034 people were homeless in the county.
Health and Human Services will post activation plans online and provide a recorded message at (415) 473-6100.
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