After a contentious battle, Orange County supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to buy a homeless shelter that would be the first full-time county run facility.
Orange County will pay $4 million for a building near the 91 Freeway. It will hold 200 beds and be open year round. Residents will be screened and there will be full-time security.
The vote came after a four-hour hearing ended in tears and threats that the decision could affect political careers.
"I'm not against homeless but there's other buildings, other places that this can be put," said George Schaefer, a business owner.
A county study counted 4,400 homeless living on the streets in Orange County. In one night, the population ebbs and flows to 15,000 in a year.
"An emergency shelter is an entry point to care," said Karen Roper, the director of Orange County Community Services.
Diane Fussell spent eight years without a place to call home.
"I'd fall asleep sitting on a curb," she said. "There's just no place. I felt hopeless. It took me a long time to find a place to go that had room for me."
She contends the Kraemer Place building would help others find what they need, including the ability to get permanent housing.
"The way we're treating our own humanity is shameful," said Todd Spitzer, an Orange County supervisor.
Shawn Nelson, an Orange County supervisor, said it's the right thing to do.
