The shelter has an 1,800-square-foot courtyard that officials hope to turn into a playground. "Some day, it'll be a place for kids to get out, giggle and run around," said Stephen Ball, the head of the San Bernardino branch of the corps.
The Hospitality House was scheduled to open to residents on Friday, but that date got pushed back to Feb. 1.
"We barely got this building back from the construction people," Ball said. "We thought, 'Hey, grand opening, we'll move right in the next day.' We were a little eager, I think."
The shelter still needs more linen, phone lines and to be cleaned, he said.
"We don't have all the bedding we need, so we put out some cans hoping to bring in some donations for that," Ball explained. "We really have a lot to do, and we have two weeks to go before opening."
Though the building is new to the Salvation Army Corps, it has belonged to the larger Salvation Army organization since 1977.
In March, the Salvation Army Corps bought the property from the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center.
The Adult Rehabilitation Center runs independently from the corps, despite being branches of the same organization, Ball said.
The corps paid the rehabilitation center $2 million for the site.
The families living in the corps' church are eager to move into the Hospitality House, said Shorts.
"There are parents who would love to just give their kids a bubble bath," she said. "People take that for granted, but when you're homeless, that's a luxury."
CFWC San Bernardino District 21
55th Annual Convention
Optional Pre-Convention Activities
CFWC members may enjoy having a hands-on preview of what our convention speaker will be describing. From 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., on Friday, April 15th (the day before the convention) a tour of The Salvation Army's Hospitality House emergency family shelter has been arranged.
Work on the 215 Freeway has resulted in many street closures and frustrating congestion. To make these inconveniences as unintrusive as possible, those interested in participating will meet at 12:30 p.m. at the Colton Woman's Club, 495 N. 7th Street in Colton to carpool to Hospitality House.
The following article, written by Peter Surowski, for the Press-Enterprise on Friday, January 15, 2010 shows why a new homeless shelter was so desperately needed.
"Twenty-one homeless families sleeping on the floor in the Salvation Army Corps church soon will have their own rooms.
On Friday, the Salvation Army Corps unveiled its new homeless shelter, called the Hospitality House, on Tenth Street.
The shelter has 21 rooms with between two and five beds each. It includes 11 restrooms with nine showers, two laundry rooms, a multimedia room with eight computers, a library, family room, kitchen and dining room that seats 50 people.
The new shelter will make a world of difference to the families the Salvation Army Corps houses, said Connie Shorts, a seminary student and a corps volunteer.
"This is night and day," she said. She volunteers at the Salvation Army Corps church on Fifth Street, where more than 80 homeless people are living.
They sleep on mats in the gymnasium's floor, she said.
"Now, having a place they can be 24 /7, it's something they can put their names on," she said. "It's a little more like a home, not just an area."
At the Hospitality House, families will get to sleep together at night, whereas at the church, men and women must separate, according to Shirili Valdez, a volunteer with the Salvation Army who attended the event.
"Most of these kids have already lost something in their lives. They don't need to be separated from their dads," she said. "It's going to be an incredible difference for them."
