The Super 8 hotel in Canyon Country will no longer serve as a temporary shelter for homeless people after May 31.
Bridge to Home operates the location through Project Roomkey – a statewide effort to house homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hotel began operating as a Project Roomkey location last April when cases of COVID-19 were rapidly increasing.
The hotel’s occupants have one or more disabilities and chronic illnesses, according to Mike Foley, executive director of Bridge to Home, a nonprofit helping homeless individuals and families in the Santa Clarita Valley.
“The group that stays there are considered to be the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Foley.
Bridge to Home staff provide case management and wraparound services to the hotel’s 48 occupants. Foley added that most of those 48 individuals call the SCV home.
“We’re working to find permanent housing and housing location options for people who originated in the Santa Clarita Valley,” Foley said. “For up to two years, we can provide the rent and utility payment for people as we help them find resources to sustain their housing over time.”
Organizations like Bridge to Home are searching for permanent housing for tenants from outside of the SCV.
Finding permanent housing for the hotel’s occupants partly depends on landlord participation, Foley said.
“We would hope to get the most people housed that we can, but that’s all based on whether there’s availability,” Foley said, adding that his team is looking at shared housing among other housing options. “It all comes down to whether or not we can find housing or apartments for people.”
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority oversees Bridge to Home at the Santa Clarita Super 8 hotel and helps Foley’s team administer services, according to Ahmad Chapman, a LAHSA spokesman.
“The end of the lease for that hotel is June 9, but the final date for participants in the program is May 31,” Chapman said.
There are 10 other Project Roomkey sites in Los Angeles County, according to Michelle Vega, a spokeswoman for county Supervisor Kathryn Barger.
“The county has been working with the state to transition some of the Roomkey sites to Homekey permanent housing sites,” Vega told The Signal in an email. “Right now, all of the remaining Roomkey sites are set to expire by the end of September.”
In January, President Joe Biden directed FEMA to increase reimbursement and extend through the end of September 2021 reimbursements to local government for the cost of shelters like the Super 8.
