Faced with the fiery destruction of a building at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds in Victorville that occurred in July and deprived the Victor Valley Rescue Mission and High Desert Homeless Services Inc. of access to quarters they were able to use to house the homeless, First District San Bernardino County Supervisor Robert Lovingood has prevailed upon the U.S Marine Corps to have the military contingent provide two 20-man tents to tide through until the end of winter the effort to shelter from nature’s brutal elements some of the desert’s indigent population.
While it is generally understood that the desert can be a very hot place, less well recognized by those who do not live there is that the temperature at night in the desert, particularly in the winter, can fall to well below freezing.
On December 5, the county board of supervisors approved a non-financial memorandum of agreement between the Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow and the county to allow tents lent by the base’s quartermaster to temporarily shelter homeless individuals during the winter season in conjunction with a program by High Desert Homeless Services, Inc.
Lovingood’s First District includes much of the Mojave Desert contained in San Bernardino County. According to a report from Lovingood, who is also the chairman of the board of supervisors, “In recent years, the nonprofit Victor Valley Rescue Mission has provided a warming shelter at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds in Victorville for the region’s homeless during the cold winter months. In July of 2017, a fairgrounds building was seriously damaged by fire, making the building to be used as a warming shelter unavailable. For the 2017-18 Winter season, the nonprofit High Desert Homeless Services Inc. is taking the lead in operating the warming shelter at the fairgrounds. Starting November 27, 2017 and through March 31, 2018, High Desert Homeless Services Inc. plans to provide homeless individuals and families with sleeping accommodations in two military tents at the fairgrounds. Tents have been donated by the Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow for use as warming shelters and will be opened when temperatures drop below 40 degrees and during times of rain or snow. The warming shelters will be open from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Each tent can accommodate approximately 21 people. Restroom facilities and sinks are available onsite. Temporary fencing will surround the site. Volunteer teams will oversee the warming shelters.”
Lovingood said, “The county is facilitating this item because the Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow has indicated that it will not enter into an agreement with a non-governmental entity.”
In addition, a donor has made a 28-foot by 44-foot modular building available to the Victor Valley Rescue Mission. The intent is to have the modular in place at the fairgrounds by next week.