Zain Shauk of the Burbank Leader writes about the opening of the winter shelter in Burbank. Union Rescue Mission is running the program again this year.
The city’s winter homeless shelter opened Monday, providing cots, showers and hot meals to 31 people on its first night of operation at the Burbank National Guard Armory.
Last year, the shelter drew only about 15 people on its first night and almost 150 on its most crowded evening before it closed in mid-March, said Andy Bales, director of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, which runs the program.