New Hope Temporary Shelter
On Monday May 18, 2020 the Bellflower City Council and many others dedicated New Hope Temporary Shelter at 8833 Cedar Street. New Hope began serving the Bellflower homeless population on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 in compliance with the City’s landmark settlement agreement with homeless advocate plaintiffs on September 23, 2019. Bellflower was the first city in Los Angeles County to sign on with Judge Carter’s order as a method of addressing the pervasive homelessness issue.
New Hope is a state of the art 50-bed shelter for Bellflower homeless individuals that is operated by Mercy House. The operator assists program participants with creating a housing plan, making connections to housing resources and ending their homelessness as soon as possible. The program maintains a strict no-walk-up policy and depends on referrals from local non-profit organizations, contracted homeless liaisons and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Contact information:
New Hope General Line: (562) 370-9708
New Hope Manager: (714) 836-7188 x144
Volunteer/ Donation Info: (714) 836-7188 x146
Outreach Teams / Referral Agencies
City Net - Outreach Line: (714) 451-6198
Kingdom Causes Bellflower - Office: (562) 804-2189
Lakewood Sheriff’s Station - (562) 623-3500
FOR MORE FAQs CLICK HERE
Click to view: Temporary Shelter Services (TSS) PowerPoint presentation
View: Settlement Agreement
FAQs / Summary of the Project
City has contracted Mercy House to manage New Hope.
Two reasons. First, the City’s residents made it clear they want the City Council to address the growing homelessness crisis in Bellflower. A Citywide survey conducted in October 2018 showed that 74% of our residents said it was the most serious problem in Bellflower. In short, it’s a clear mandate from the community to fix this crisis.
Second, the City settled a homelessness-related federal lawsuit filed against the city by a homeless advocate group and, in the settlement, (The Catholic Worker of Orange County v. City of Bellflower) Federal District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered the City to build a temporary services shelter for 50 persons.
Second, the City settled a homelessness-related federal lawsuit filed against the city by a homeless advocate group and, in the settlement, (The Catholic Worker of Orange County v. City of Bellflower) Federal District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered the City to build a temporary services shelter for 50 persons.
Judge Carter ordered the City to complete a plan for the creation of a TSS by December 31, 2019. In order to meet the Court Order, the City must move forward immediately.
A decision made by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Martin v. City of Boise, generally prevents cities, including Bellflower, from enforcing so called “anti-nuisance” regulations against homeless person(s) for camping, loitering or sleeping outdoors, unless the city provides temporary emergency shelter for the homeless population. Over the past few years, the City of Bellflower has tried many methods with multiple organizations to solve this problem in our community. We have contracted with two non-profit entities, CityNet and Kingdom Causes, to identify and assist the homeless in finding shelter that can assist the homeless with their challenges and struggles. Though these efforts have been very effective in determining who is from Bellflower and who is not, and determining the root causes of why people are homeless, it is still not legal to enforce our anti-camping, loitering or prohibitions on sleeping outside and is the main reason why our community continues to observe our homelessness crisis in our sidewalks, our parks, our streets, around businesses and near our homes.
No. The only homeless people that will be allowed to be housed and supported in New Hope are those who can show proof they are from Bellflower, or have a prior connection to Bellflower. Everyone else who is homeless and not from Bellflower will not be provided help or access.
Yes. The only homeless people that will be allowed to be housed and supported in New Hope are those who can show proof they are from Bellflower, or have a prior connection to Bellflower. Everyone else who is homeless and not from Bellflower will not be provided help or access to our shelter.
