As the desert temperature rises this summer – often 110 degrees and higher – sleeping outside can be life-threatening. A community effort is underway to provide a safe refuge from the heat for homeless people in western Coachella Valley.
The Desert Healthcare Foundation — in partnership with Riverside County, Coachella Valley Association of Governments, and desert cities such as Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs — is working on a plan to establish emergency overnight homeless shelters during the summer months in those cities. (The east valley already has shelters to serve homeless people there.)
We need your help.
The Foundation has created the Summer Homeless Survival Fund to raise seed funds through public donations that will help create and operate the shelters.
Donations will be used to help pay for:
- Startup costs, such as leasing a facility and paying for a/c and other utilities.
- Staff to provide case management support to assist residents in addressing medical needs, moving to permanent housing, securing benefits, and a path to employment.
- Staff and security to ensure the shelter is safe for all.
Checks also will be accepted. Please make them out to the Desert Healthcare Foundation and include “Summer Homeless Survival Fund” on the memo line. They can be hand-delivered or mailed to:
Desert Healthcare Foundation
Attn.: Summer Homeless Survival Fund
1140 N. Indian Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
The emergency summer shelter program will be implemented and its funds managed by a collaborative of CVAG and local and county governments. Greg Rodriguez, who serves as the Riverside County Government Affairs and Public Policy Advisor, has been named as the program coordinator.
For more information about the fund, please contact Chris Christensen, interim CEO for the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation, at cchristensen@dhcd.org.
