New shelter site for the homeless opening soon in Grover Beach

A new shelter site for people experiencing homelessness is opening soon in Grover Beach.

"Balay Ko on Barca" will offer shelter space and vital services for those in need.

Located off 4th Street, this site is the city's second non-congregate shelter following the success of the "Cabins for Change" program, which opened in December 2022 on 16th Street and Longbranch Avenue.

Freedom Morton is one of the Cabins for Change success stories. She experienced homelessness for a year and a half in Arizona before returning to her hometown of Arroyo Grande.

“I always wanted to come home, so in order for me to do that, I had to lose everything there. Even though being on the streets ain't the greatest thing in the world, like it's an eye opener and a lesson of what you truly want," Morton said.

She now has her own place and is celebrating one year at her job.

“They saved my life," Morton said. "And every day, they show me, [I'm] going to be achieving more. Even more than I know. But with their blessing, I know I'm going to go big.”

The new site, which features showers, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and single cabins, will take the same approach as Cabins for Change.

“What we do is we work with them with a series of wraparound services to help them stabilize and then really assess what their needs are in order to help them find housing," explained Janna Nichols, 5Cities Homeless Coalition Executive Director.

In two weeks, single adults will start moving in and can stay for at least 90 days while receiving support. There's already a waitlist of 310 people, showing the high demand for such programs.

“The challenges are great," Nichols said. "We're proud to say that we have moved 50 people to our Cabins for Change program through into permanent housing.”

With a success rate of 70% in moving people into permanent housing, according to Nichols, there's hope that this new shelter will also bring positive change to the community.

“If you believe that it is possible for you, they'll see it, too, and they'll help you drive. Just don't give up," Morton said.