Community Human Services’ Safe Place opens in Salinas to assist homeless youth

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Wednesday afternoon marked the grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting of Safe Place Salinas--Community Human Services' newest program--located at 212 N. Main Street.

Safe Place Salinas was established to assist homeless youth between 18 and 24 years old in navigating services and find quick rehousing financing, according to Community Human Services. It also provides access to food, clothes, hygiene tools, first aid products, computers and the internet.

“The housing crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our time and it’s the local people on the ground that work and are dedicated to helping--person by person, family by family, individual by individual,” said Supervisor Luis Alejo. “In this particular area, there is a great need for our homeless youth... we can imagine young people starting out their lives already facing tremendous challenges and this team is going to be the one that helps them access those vital services and connect with the opportunities they deserve to have.”

Community Human Services says that there is an extreme need for services to help homeless youth in Salinas and that their new location will serve as a hub for the Street Outreach Team and a Housing Navigator to serve clients.

"The Housing Navigator will assist clients with the often complicated and expensive process of securing permanent housing," wrote Community Human Services in a press release. "The Street Outreach Team operates by visiting areas frequented by unhoused populations and, asks individuals if they need assistance with a broad range of services such as job searching, getting connected with social services, and more. They also provide water, food (even dog food) and other basic-needs items."

Community Human Services has been serving Monterey County since 1969 and is celebrating its 55th anniversary this year.