Warm Room opens doors in South Lake Tahoe

We've seen them walking along the streets, sleeping in the forests or hanging outside of an all night market. The faces of South Lake Tahoe's homeless. Winter can be brutal on the homeless in town with below freezing temperatures, snow covered paths and no place to keep warm.

That is, until today.

The Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless opened the doors of their new Warm Room on Friday, ready to take in their first visitors at 7:00 p.m. It is a safe and warm place for people over 18, getting them out of physically harmful conditions.

Located at 981 Silver Dollar Avenue, the newly acquired office will have space for 20 men and women to spend the night and stay out of the elements. The American Red Cross gave them the beds and blankets, while other community members have donated warm clothing and toiletries.

When someone wants to spend the night they go to the Warm Room and get processed in. Paperwork only needs to be completed once, so when people return the process is a much simpler one. Once they check in they head to the first stop which is to store their belongings. There isn't space in the sleeping room for more than one small bag per person, so, if they carry a lot of items with them on a daily basis they can check it in. The guests then receive a blanket and are offered a bag of toiletries. The kitchen has hot water and hot coffee, along with instant oatmeal and Cup of Noodle soups. They can't have food as there is no place to safely store, but they can offer in the instant items.

The Warm Room runs from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. nightly, and the Coalition plans on keeping it open until April. If cold temperatures appear to be hanging around, they will keep it open more into Spring.

Eight volunteers will be working each night at the Warm Room, two to set up from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m, two to do intake from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and two more from 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., then two to clean up from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. There is one paid staffer and coalition members would like to get more donations to hire one more so they don't have to rely on volunteers every day.

The idea of a local warming room came out of the Lake Tahoe Collaborative, a group of non-profit directors and staff people, private citizens, educators, visionaries, nurses, staff and representatives from the City of South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County offices who want to address the problems facing the youth and families of the area.

A subgroup of the collaborative was formed that was dedicated to helping the homeless in the community.

"I thought it was an important thing to do in our community," said Dr. Marissa Muscat who is the Executive Director of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless. "I made of list of things we had to do and everyone jumped in and made it happen."

That was in April of 2015, and now, just seven months later, the doors are open.

"Homelessness happens in communities of all sizes," Muscat said as she addressed the group gathered for the grand opening. "In South Lake Tahoe we have poverty, lack of affordable housing, an affordability gap that makes us more challenged than San Francisco because of the higher costs and lower wages."

She said many homeless in South Lake Tahoe are employed, but don't make enough for housing.

"We can't fix the homeless problem in one winter," said Muscat. "But, we had to start somewhere and here we are tonight. I'm proud to open the doors."

There are a few rules for people using the facility:

-Must be 18 or over. Families will be given a voucher for a motel room for one night (maximum one night per winter).
-No loitering around the facility during closed hours.
-No pets except service animals.
-No in and out privileges after check-in.
-No smoking, alcohol or drug use permitted.
-No weapons, violence or disrespect permitted.
-Must check in by 9:00 p.m. each night.

The board of the Coalition is comprised of Muscat, Nicole Zaborsky , Rachel Yakar, Scott Weavil, Leigh Wayne Miller, and Cynthia McCormack. They then have a group of volunteers on the advisory council and as well as a contingent of volunteers. A group of partner organizations helping to get the Warm Room started include Live Violence Free, Barton Health, Lake Tahoe Collaborative, Temple Bat Yam, Unity at the Lake, Hope Lutheran Church, United for Action, El Dorado County Health and Human Services, Public Health and Mental Health, Lake Tahoe Humane Society, Tahoe Transportation District, National Alliance on Mental Illness, City of South Lake Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, Family Resource Center, The Red Cross and the Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada.

Besides monetary and other donations, the biggest need they have is for more volunteers. There will be more training on January 9 and 12. All volunteers must attend the 2 1/2 hour training as well as get a LiveScan fingerprint/background check.

The public can help in the following ways:

Volunteer
Donate money
Donate through Amazon.com list of needed items - Link to their list.
Drop off supplies between 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. only.

Send checks to Live Violence Free with "Tahoe Warm Room" in the memo line to P.O. Box 13514, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151. Live Violence Free is the fiscal agent for the group.

For more information, contact the group at 775-573-0822 or by email at tahoewarmroom@gmail.com.