Marin Nonprofits Explore Winter Shelter Expansion

Growing Concerns Over Emergency Shelter Access in Marin County

Marin County is facing increasing pressure from local nonprofits to address the growing need for emergency winter shelter for homeless residents. A coalition of organizations has expressed dissatisfaction with the county’s current efforts, arguing that more action is needed to protect vulnerable populations during extreme weather conditions.

Mark Shotwell, CEO of Ritter Center in San Rafael, highlighted the lack of leadership and resources from the county. “The county has attended many of the planning meetings, but is not leading the effort or offering any resources at this time,” he said. In response, several nonprofits have begun exploring their own initiatives to provide temporary shelter during severe weather events.

One such initiative is a pilot program launched by Ritter Center and the Marin chapter of Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). The program involves a trial activation during inclement weather at a church in Novato. Shotwell explained that the shelter would be activated during periods of rain, cold, or heat that do not meet the criteria for the county’s severe weather emergency shelter (SWES).

Currently, the program relies entirely on volunteers, with no funding available yet. However, Ritter Center and VOAD are working together to apply for a small grant that would support Adriana Rabkin, the sole staff member of VOAD organizing the initiative. The program aims to supplement, rather than replace, the existing emergency shelter system.

Collaborative Effort to Expand Services

The planning team includes several key organizations, such as the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin, Community Action Marin, and the Bolinas Cavalry Presbyterian Church. These groups will provide essential services, including staffing, transportation, outreach, medical care, and behavioral health support.

Rabkin emphasized the importance of bringing services directly to communities where unhoused individuals live and gather. “The goal is to remove transportation and geographic barriers by bringing services directly into these communities, including Marin’s rural and coastal areas,” she said.

Despite these efforts, the county’s emergency shelter program remains limited. Marin County supervisors recently approved a $161,534 contract with Episcopal Community Services to operate the SWES during the 2025-26 fiscal year. The contract covers July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.

Gary Naja-Riese, a county homelessness official, explained that the contract was placed on an “extension list” at the end of the previous fiscal year to avoid service disruptions. This allows the contract to continue under previous terms while the department prepares for a new renewal.

Homeless residents are housed overnight at the Marin County Health and Wellness Campus in San Rafael. They are admitted at 5 p.m. and must leave by 6 a.m. the next day. Episcopal Community Services provides a hot dinner and takeout breakfast, along with morning transportation to the St. Vincent de Paul dining room.

However, the shelter is only activated when specific criteria are met. For example, it is triggered if temperatures are forecast to drop below 36 degrees for three days or below 45 degrees for two days combined with heavy rain or hazardous conditions.

Challenges and Criticisms

Kieawnie Clar, director of the Marin Interfaith Homeless Chaplaincy, expressed concerns about the strict criteria. “We have such extreme weather. It is either really, really cold and wet and rainy or it’s really, really hot. In both instances, people need a place to go, and it doesn’t always meet the criteria,” she said.

Marin County has agreed to pay the same amount as last year for the emergency shelter, which saved money due to fewer openings. Invoices are processed monthly based on actual costs, with payment only for work completed.

The emergency shelter opened just twice in the 2024-25 fiscal year due to a mild winter. Despite this, San Rafael received over 15 inches of rain between October 1, 2024, and January 12, 2025. The temperature dipped to 36 degrees on the last day of 2024.

In the 2023-24 fiscal year, the shelter operated for 23 nights and served 357 people. During the earlier REST program (2008–2018), the number of nightly visitors often reached 40 men and 20 women.

Naja-Riese clarified that SWES and REST are separate programs with different criteria and operations. He also noted that community organizations can now provide bus passes to help homeless individuals access services.

Current State of Homelessness in Marin

A recent count conducted on January 23, 2024, revealed 1,090 people without a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence in Marin. Of these, 788 were entirely unsheltered. Twenty-four percent were age 55 or older, and 7% were 65 or older. Ten percent were under 18.

County health officials estimate that 47 unhoused people died in the county last year. Homeless individuals die nearly 30 years earlier than the average American, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.