OC leaders beginning cold weather shelter talks this year well before winter storms
Orange County officials are looking into how the county can be better prepared to house people living on the streets during times of extreme weather.
“The last couple of years have really been a learning process for us. Last year in particular, one of the challenges was that things came together late,” Doug Becht, director of the county’s Office of Care Coordination, said. “What we realized was, although cold weather only happens a few months during the year, it’s really a year-round discussion. We need to start talking about next year as early as possible.”
The county has provided cold weather shelters since at least 2007, usually at the National Guard armories in Santa Ana and Fullerton, and opened them as early as October. But finding a city in which to host the shelters has become a challenge the last couple of years.
