Tahoe working to get homeless out of the cold
By Kathryn Reed
Putting a roof over people’s heads from Nov. 1-April 30 is the goal of a small coalition of people on the South Shore who are making strides to create a warm room.
Marissa Muscat, who has taken on the role of project manager, is spearheading the efforts to create a nonprofit that would be in charge of the homeless center.
The goal is that it would operate from 7pm-7am, be for men and women, allow pets, and that it would be within walking distance of a bus stop. It would accommodate 20 people in a space no smaller than 700-square-feet.
“The warm room will also work to break the cycle of homelessness by providing clients with connections to community-based services including subsidized housing, food-clothing resources, counseling, financial management, health care, empowerment, and other services as needed,” the draft proposal reads.
Mental illness, substance abuse and gambling problems are some of the issues facing local homeless people. Many are also veterans. Warm room committee members want to ensure people know what resources are available to them. They also recognize some people are resistant to change.
Proponents are working to provide homeless people a place to stay on the South Shore during the winter. Photo/LTN file
Advocates are looking for a fiscal sponsor. Live Violence Free’s board of directors is contemplating being that entity. This would help the warm room be able to go after grants as it works to establish itself as a standalone nonprofit.
“Fiscal sponsors provide a link to the community and fiscal oversight, and may be able to assist in acquiring liability insurance and filing taxes. The local faith community has been supportive and is participating in this project. The Red Cross has agreed to provide blankets, staff training, and cots for clients,” the proposal says.
Statistics show that the homeless situation in El Dorado County is increasing. The 2015 U.S. Housing and Urban Development count identified 247 homeless in El Dorado County, with 38 of them living in the South Lake Tahoe area. According to the warm room committee, local agencies believe the county homeless rate is closer to 600.
At a committee meeting last week some of the nuts and bolts of creating a warm room were vetted – such as discussing what the center should look like (it could be multiple places and not be at the same venue each night), creating intake forms for clients, security, the need to look at city codes, fundraising, getting volunteers, and being ADA compliant.
Besides creating the nonprofit, the committee is actively searching for a site or sites that would accommodate the seasonal warm room. Two toilets and a sink are needed, along with electricity, heat and trash removal. Showers would be optional. Storage for clients’ belongings would be ideal.
It’s estimated it will cost at least $20,000 to keep the warm room open for six months. And that is operating with a cadre of volunteers.
For more information about the warm room or to help with the project, contact Marissa Muscat at tahoewarmroom@gmail.com.
Disgusting. Send these cockroaches packing. Yes homelessness is increasing here. Because we are catering to it now. Had a belligerent bum try demanding money from me yesterday at raleys. Get used to it. Slt is on its way to becoming San Francisco. Awesome.
big time bad move. this ‘warming hut’ concept caters to the scam-artists that are gaming the system; a slippery slope will ensue, as south shore becomes even more ‘scam artist’-friendly, and infrastructure is further burdened. this alpine environment with a struggling economy is not suitable as a destination for the non-contributing. no tax money for this, for sure.
Extreme caution needs to be exercised in this circumstance. There is a huge difference between men, women, and children in real need of assistance and wanting to get back on their feet and individuals who choose to be homeless and are professional panhandlers. Many visitors to our community want to escape the aggressive panhandling they experience in their daily lives and they will not want to come to a place to rest and vacation if what they encounter at shopping center driveways, stop signs, and stop lights are professional panhandlers. This community that lives and dies by the tourist dollar cannot afford to have its life blood sucked out of it by aggressive (or non-aggressive) panhandling and if there is not presently a law making panhandling illegal there should be.
Homeless man going through my trash last week also until I told him I was calling the police. Guess it’s time for a bear bin. Hope it works on these animals too.
i hope that these commenters never fall on hard luck and ever are in need of help from the community. Everyone’s situation is different and we as a community should help eachother out in tough times. Please wake up and help people in need.
Mr. Mustache- instead of calling police, you should offer him a shirt off your back or something to eat.
Sometimes panhandling and homelessness do not go hand in hand. If this not for profit group sets up the right criteria, works with County and State – this could be a good thing.
If we build accommodations for 700 homeless soon we will have 700.
Panhandling and homelessness are two different issues. The intake people at the warming room should be able to “triage” those who need and will use actual help to get back on their feet and those who are just working the system. I think that just overcoming the “aloneness” some of these poor folks are feeling will be a positive step. Not knowing where to turn for help or even not knowing help is available must be debilitating to some of these unfortunate folks.
Glad to see that there are people out there who are willing to help others.
“Guess it’s time for a bear bin. Hope it works on these animals too.”…are you suggesting that humans are ‘animal’ in the sense that we are mammals borne of millions of years of species evolution, or are you righteously suggesting that those who become homeless-either by choice or circumstance-have descended out of the ranks of ‘being human’ into some lesser form of God’s creation?
Also…please convince us that your ‘mustache’ is not really just furry Kochroach antennae or worse.
@Helper….are you suggesting that Mr. Mustache follow Christ’s teachings? Blasphemy!!!
Big time GREAT MOVE, this is long overdue. I hope this goes through we need to be compassionate to EVERYONE down on their luck. Obviously anyone against helping out the homeless is a heartless person, who should pray nothing catastrophic never happens to them.
Mustache, How dare you, these are people no matter of their social economic status. They are people who have the very same rights as you. So I will assume YOU are a
COCKROACH and we should ship you off. You are a disgusting person for even writing your first post here.
Told everyone about 4 months ago this was happening, Now do you believe it ? Help those in need ,it my be just you some day,Its about time.
These mopes are not down on their luck. They are lazy, annoying, and infesting our local markets. The sad thing is the Police can’t do anything about it unless a business complains. Why the business doesn’t complain is a mystery. These free loaders immediately make the parking lots look run down and exactly like some big city. Catering to them is a TERRIBLE idea. You libs who think we need to build them a shelter should simply take them in to your own residences. LOL. THAT will be the day. Come on ‘Hmmm’, ‘kandi, take them in to YOUR home!!! You typical liberals.
Most of the chronic complainers above lump everyone homeless into the same group. This is a horrible mistake.
Circumstances alone in our world and in our botched up culture should tell us that
A lot of us are only a flood, a forest fire, an illness, an earthquake or an accident away from homelessness. The rips in our safety nets are huge.
Personally, I don’t find it at all surprising that transients for whatever reason choose the forests and the mountains over the roughness and rush of the cities.
The outright panhandlers are objectionable, but in subtle ways it is usually obvious who the pros are….they will often be the ones wearing new running or tennis shoes.
KITS Carson,I have helped many homeless, You should give it a try,God says Give and you shell receive ,Is there anything you say that is Positive on these post? think not.You are so negative,I will be praying for you .
These post in this newspaper has the same old people on it and all they do is argue, Got to love LAKE TAHOE PEOPLE .LOL
May Gaia bless the compassionate Dr. Muscat for her selfless contribution to the less fortunate in our community-please ignore the miserable foxroaches that mock your humanitarian efforts
God also said give them a fish and they will depend on handouts. TEACH them to fish and they will thrive on their own. Sage advice! That’s the wisdom I subscribe to. I couldn’t care less about the lazy mopes around Raley’s parking lots.
Have you taken any of them into your own home? Or do you believe giving them free money is your idea of helping them? Hand them your contribution to laziness and then park and watch what they do with it.
Too Funny, KC claims to interpret the words of JC!
I have mixed feelings for within my family I have relatives who fit both extremes. On one side an aunt and uncle who became homeless and jobless because of Katrina. Then on the other, a cousin who thrived in the homeless community and living in shelters through choice. Both survived and came out of it reestablished in the communities they lived in. My aunt and uncle worked hard to make it happen quickly, my cousin languished for several years enjoying the fruits of the system. Yin and Yang. For one to exist, the other must also. Who are we to judge?
Kitty=FINGER POINTER
what a sorry excuse for a human he is. But im not even sure a troll is a human. Probably not even considered a good troll either. Go figure…
Whatever fish. You get the point. If you blind liberals can’t understand that we are sick of lazy, useless, free loaders, then keep paying them. I don’t care what you think. You should know that by now. Not all homeless are lazy beggars but the ones around here ARE! Deal with it.
If indeed if one is down on their luck and literally out on the street either by bad decisions/judgement/mentally ill, etc. or just fell victim to the 08 crash that many have. I feel for them, yet on the other hand it worries me that if they are living in camps in the forests using cooking/warming open campfires. Well you know the rest of story of what we are now dealing with regarding the HUGE drought. We the fortunate ones that have a roof over our head living in the forest of Lake Tahoe could lose everything including our lives to wildfire. It is a very slippery slope and it’s all about funding and the all mighty $, if only there was a way to take over a extremely run down motel, remodel it a bit for TEMPORARY housing for the ones that are truly in a bad way and not a cash tax free scammer.
Thus relocate them to a environment/climate friendly homeless housing system of some sort then rehabilitation, but once again it’s all about the all mighty $.
Lake Tahoe particularly in the winter months you can literally freeze to death as some homeless and others people already have in the past winters.
There is no easy answer here, but Lake Tahoe is a place were you don’t want to be homeless.
I apologize up front if I had offended anyone on here.
local2, unfortunatly motel rooms right now are selli g for $40k a room, even a small 15 room will sell for 600k plus you would need 100k to fix it up, Maybe if they were able to find grant money for this but they would still need another 40k a year to run it,
At this point they can only do so much with the money they will have.
no tax money. no ‘grants’. this is not a compassion thing. a ‘warming hut’ is essentially a ‘beacon’ for non-contributers; worse yet, establishment of such sets precedent and an easily exploitable slippery slope.
Kits Carson you are 100% correct. I challenge any of you idiot liberals to take a homeless person into your home for even one week. Not ONE of you would ever.
Read the statistics. 95% of homeless are drug/alcohol addicts and homeless through actions of their own doing. Not my problem.
Give them my shirt? Um. No. I worked hard for my shirt and my food. Maybe they should give it a try.
Yes. Keep praying to invisible sky man. That’s gonna do a lot of good. Hahahahahah!
And no…. I’m not calling druggy homeless animals. That would be insulting to animals. I’m calling them vermin.
Mr. M
Glad to see you getting your jollies by being a total A**hole on this site.
You are obviously damaged goods yourself. Not that I believe you even think the way you write. You just do it to upset people who actually believe in their way of life. You are a pathetic little pissant pot stirrer. Not name calling, just labeling. Like calling dirt dirt or water water.
People who have no compassion or caring for others have a name too. Sociopath. Hope you like it.
Haddi- I absolutely believe what I type. You seem really mad! Deep breaths mama.
I have compassion for people who are truly in need. I don’t have compassion for scumbag druggies who work the system, steal and take advantage of hard working people.
You’ve now resorted to calling names on a newspaper website. Congrats. I’m guessing you aren’t educated?
Well put Haddi! Mr.M really does portray himself to be a 1st class A**hole! There are soo many disparaging commenters on this site! Should they fall on hard times, karma will have played a part.
Al- I hope a homeless man takes a crap on your doorstep. THEN let us know how us feel.
I’d rather be an a hole than a liberal!
Being rational and thoughtful is an option for some people.
I have occasion to be around the homeless and the most common denominator that I see is a brain health issue. California lacks the safety net for people with mental challenges and depression and we have to have a better system to address that. With help, at least some of these people could maintain a place and get off the streets and out of the meadows.
I see- finally a comment that makes sense. A warming hut is just so people can feel good about themselves while ignoring the real issues.
I have taken homeless people into my house. Sometimes they get better, find work and get back on their feet… sometimes not. Some find the food pantries with free food and either thru friends letting them sleep on the couch… well if not that, then they sleep out in the meadows. If they panhandle enough, they can live in a motel and get food stamps.
Get ready because as our temperatures rise they will be asking for handouts and they will be camping out here intown.
Building illegal campfires and dumping human waste and liqour bottles all over the place.
They are on their way to Tahoe… just like every summer.
Take care, conserve water and be bear aware. OLS
Relax Mr. Mustache-nobody is going to dispute the fact that you are an a hole.
Mr.M, your stating your hope of someone emptying their bowels on my door step provides further proof of your nastiness.
Tea total- you are like a young child butting into an adult conversation. Take a time out or you will get the belt!
People, come on, stop the nastiness.
LTN staff
Admin, just a thought. If every person commenting were somehow limited to one comment per day/24 hour cycle, this nasty back and forth childish bickering with no real content or pertinence to an article at hand would be alleviated for the most part.
Mr M.
Graduated from college *** laude.
Not mad, just calling like I see it.
I am also a six foot tall two hundred pound man.
See how your childish assumptions work.
As for the name calling, I thought I explained. Not name calling, labeling. Like you do with people who you think are “Liberals”.
Grow up sonny.
back at the end of the 80’s I worked at the Heave.
they hired the homeless to work the main lodge.
on the big snowy nights I was instructed to let them sleep on the floor of the Cork room, so they would not freeze to death.
it worked out no problems everything was ok.
It’s amazing peoples attitudes towards the homeless,you must remember this system isn’t set up for everyone to be in the middle class. There is always going to be homeless. There is no services up here and the warming hut hopefully will be set up to help people help themselves, this little town needs it. What you hard asses should be questioning is why Barton keeps drying out drunks and addicts and then puts them back on the street with no rehab,that is a travesty and your tax dollars are paying for this many times more than $20,000.
The most compassionate and realistic thing we can do for this group is to encourage them to get out of Tahoe as quickly as possible. Keeping them warm might make you sleep better at night, but does nothing to improve their situation. What opportunities for advancement are there here? Very limited low-income housing, very few job openings. It is absurd to think we are doing them any favors by helping them stay here.
walkingmom:yup
We have Righties calling for vigilante justice, we have Righties threatening to hit people with their belt…I’m seeing a violent trend here.
SLT won’t get better until we get rid of the Poverty With a View Mentality.
Hmmm, the scary thing is they are all gun owners as well
mentally challenged, anger issues and violent agressive tendencies and add guns. Well we all know what the outcome will most likely be…
Yeah, they’ll wind up shooting them self(accidentally, of course) or someone they claim to ‘love’, or go postal.
God I love the comments here on the LTN!!!! They really show the true colors of our community
Yes, “world” some of us call reality like reality is. The rest have their heads in the sand.
True colors? Last I saw there are several colors now on south shore. What’s your point?!
‘Reality’ huh? Please tell us more about reality.
Well from the looks of these commits on this post, ill bet that each and every one of the people who applaud this is willing to put up $1000 each to support a warm room. but un forunately i will bet not one of the far left commenters will donate one dime.
Kae could you contact Ms Muscat to find out if they have set up a gofundme or other online funding site to make this thing happen? It should meet its goal pretty quickly. If they do have an account it would be nice if it was posted