Renovations to improve areas at the El Camino Homeless Shelter (ECHO) are complete at their location in Atascadero.
People's Self Help Housing partnered with El Camino Homeless Organization to complete the renovation project and perform updates to the internal facility for people experiencing homelessness.
The work that took place included repainting the property, building new room partitions, installing updated lighting fixtures and ductwork, and completing ADA upgrades. Other upgrades included transforming what was a single, large room with living spaces separated by flimsy curtains into more private living quarters for seven families, plus a common area with a television and other amenities. Overall, the finishes were to make it feel more homelike.
"We are so excited, this is our 20th anniversary and we were able to completely renovate our shelter in Atascadero, it is now a much more uplifting environment for the people we serve, we really strive to provide the best resources and the best environment and now we have the actual shelter facility that's able to do that," said Wendy Lewis, ECHO CEO.
A second phase of the project renovated four existing family rooms, a laundry room, and a staircase, and brought two bathrooms up to current ADA standards.
Both phases were completed within three months, to allow residents to quickly move from temporary housing trailers outside ECHO's facility.
"It was a real privilege being involved in this project, we really want to be a good resource to the community, we really respect what ECHO does, where our missions are really aligned, we have certain talents to bring to the table that we thought we could bring to the table, they took us up on the offer so again it was a real honor to work with ECHO," said Ken Trigueiro with People's Self Help Housing.
ECHO currently operates three facilities in North County that provide meals and a safe and secure overnight shelter.
This project was made possible and funded by the State of California's Homeless Emergency Aid Program, administered through the County of San Luis Obispo.
