San Bernardino’s $23.8 Million Homeless Navigation Center Sparks Debate Over Modular Housing and Preliminary Service Rejections
As San Bernardino grapples with how to deploy $23.8 million in funding for its new Homeless Navigation Center, tensions are mounting over design choices, service policies, and ongoing challenges in securing the cooperation of the unhoused. During a special council meeting held on October 24 at the Feldheym Library, Acting City Manager Rochelle Clayton revealed that despite a court injunction lifted on October 2 permitting the city to clear encampments, unhoused individuals at Perris Hill Park are refusing services, likely due to shelter rules. According to Clayton, outreach efforts conducted by Hope the Mission on October 22 encountered unanimous rejection, with unhoused individuals citing an unwillingness to follow the center’s restrictions. “The response was plain,” Clayton reported. “They do not want any restrictions or rules.” With this resistance in mind, Clayton expressed concerns over the city’s plan to open a 200-bed facility, advocating instead for a phased launch with 50 or 100 beds to assess demand. “We don’t want to staff a facility for hundreds of beds that may go unused,” she added, highlighting an already uncertain level of occupancy at the forthcoming center to