The annual Winter Shelter Program is wrapping up its stay in Glendora this week and heading to Hacienda Heights to continue to provide food and shelter to the area’s homeless during the chilliest months of the year.
Every year since 1993, the East San Gabriel Valley Coalition for the Homeless and dozens of local churches have hosted and served hundreds of homeless.
Since the shelter opened in December, it has served more than 700 homeless, providing dinner, a warm place to sleep and donated clothes.
But despite the cold snap gripping the Southland in recent days, the number of homeless guests at the two Glendora locations has dropped, said the coalition’s director Bob McKennon.
“We used to see some of the same people in Glendora,” said McKennon. “Some of them may have moved, or passed away…Many of them suffered from substance abuse problems like alcoholism and it takes a toll.”
Still, McKennon expects the numbers to rise as they head to Hacienda Heights and temperatures continue to drop.
This year, the shelter opened on Dec. 1 at St. Christopher's Catholic Church in West Covina, before it moved to St. Dorothy's Catholic Church, 241 S. Valley Center Dr., on Dec. 17. Since Jan. 2, the shelter has been at Glenkirk Presbyterian Church, 1700 E. Palopinto. On Thursday, the shelter heads to St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights. The program will also visit churches in Valinda and Rowland Heights during its three months in operation
The program also offers bus transportation to Winter Shelter locations with stops in El Monte, Baldwin Park, La Puente, West Covina and Glendora.
For a schedule of the 2012-2013 Winter Shelter Program, visit http://esgvchomeless.org/winter.shtml.
