The Hollister City Council approved a resolution this week to
join a community-wide effort to construct a playground at the
Southside seasonal homeless shelter.
The Hollister City Council approved a resolution this week to join a community-wide effort to construct a playground at the Southside seasonal homeless shelter.
The city will donate $10,000 to the project organized by the Community Services Development Corp. The money will come from the Redevelopment Agency Fund.
Councilmember Pauline Valdivia called the donation a “one-time expense” that the city is glad to be involved with.
“It’s part of the livelihood of the family, really,” Valdivia said.
CSDC Executive Director Brian Abbott estimated the entire project will cost $43,000. Several other agencies have already made donations, including $18,057 from San Benito County.
The playground is designed for children ages 2 to 12 and will include see-saws, a modular play system, a flippo bouncer, benches, picnic tables and other items.
Abbott mentioned other donors, such as Sacred Heart School, local businesses and a $2,500 grant.
“It’s an extremely important project,” Abbott said earlier. “There has been a lot of research that says children who are homeless are delayed in physical and social development. These are avenues for children to develop those skills.”
The non-profit CSDC was founded in 1984 and operates the shelter, which primarily houses migrant workers, in cooperation with the Community Workforce and Development Agency. It consists of 16 mobile homes on about one acre of land and provides temporary housing for 32 to 35 families and approximately 90 homeless children per year, according to a CSDC report.
Abbott said the playground equipment should be installed within a week. CSDC has also contracted Women in Construction to construct a playhouse addition to the grounds.
The entire project should be finished by early April, Abbott said.
The Council would have voted on the resolution Jan. 21, but Valdivia suggested the city use the redevelopment agency money as opposed to the general fund.
