STOCKTON, Calif. — Stockton city leaders are hoping a new low-barrier emergency homeless shelter will turn lives around and take families off the streets.
Tractors were already moving concrete and dirt on a block of Sonora Street Friday, minutes after officials broke ground on the new shelter, dubbed the "Pathways Project."
"It's really something that we've been working towards for the last year or so and the vision for it goes even further back than that," said Petra Linden, CEO of St. Mary's Community Services — the organization spearheading the shelter. "I'm really excited about being at the point where this is getting started."
Stockton mayor Kevin Lincoln is excited too.
"This is a tremendous step in the right direction," said Lincoln. "We're adding additional beds for our unhoused population and also supportive services, not only for Stockton but for San Joaquin County as a whole. That's why this project wasn't done by Stockton alone."
The city of Stockton was one of five sources of funding for the $17 million project. San Joaquin County, Health Plan of San Joaquin, Dignity Health and Congressman Josh Harder's office all chipped in to support the new shelter.
Among the groups of elected officials, St. Mary's Community Services employee Maria Castellanos made it a point to be at Friday's groundbreaking.
"I've been working here for St. Mary's for about five years. Before that, I was homeless for many years," said Castellanos. "Once we get Pathways going, we're going to be able to accept more people from the hospital without a waiting list, hopefully. People with families, people with dogs, people that have some barriers that we can't address right now but be able to better address it once we get their individual rooms."
Work is also underway across the street from the Pathways Project. Officials there are expecting to open a navigation center later in the year.
"Our team is amazing in terms of how they're able to put the pieces together," said Linden. "But this will be a really important additional piece."
Once both shelters are open, there will be nearly 450 new beds available for the homeless, meaning there will be more than enough beds city-wide to give shelter to the estimated 920 people who sleep on the streets.
"This will be the way we finally can help people to move out of those encampments, into shelter and then work with them to find out what's the long-term solution," said Linden. "Every day I would say I come across a client and I think, if only we had Pathways."
Linden and shelter officials look forward to starting the work once the Pathways Project opens its doors by December.
"Having them be able to stay somewhere where they can lock the door behind them — it's going to be very emotional for not just them, but for us as well," said Castellanos.