Emergency Shelters
When someone walks into our emergency shelter we address their immediate needs by providing warm and nutritious food, safe and secure shelter, free access to medical care, a professional assessment, and individualized case management services.
Homeless individuals can immediately improve their condition by getting medical services and medications in an on-site medical clinic operated by our partner, Centro San Vicente, get immediate access to substance abuse counseling through another partner Aliviane, or access to social services through in-house staff.
We operate four emergency shelters located in central El Paso, and they are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We never close our doors to anyone, and our different facilities help a wide array of individuals with solution-focused services.
Men’s Resource Center
Our emergency overnight shelter/day resource center is the only barrier-free facility in the Paso del Norte region.
On average, the Men’s Resource Center (MRC) provides a safe place for 170 homeless men from all walks of life to sleep.
Everyone seeking help in our facility receives 3 meals a day, free medical service, and free access to showers, bathrooms, laundry facilities, storage, clothes closet, individual bedding, phone and mail service, and substance abuse counseling among many others.
We have staff available 24 hours a day to assist our clients’ needs. Everyone is welcome and we make no distinction.
In order to stay at the Shelter, residents must abide by basic behavioral rules.
1208 Myrtle Avenue, El Paso, TX 79901
(915)577-0069
Program Coordinator: John Fleek
Women Resource Center
The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) is a night by night emergency shelter serving up to 60 single women, seven nights a week. This program is open year round and the clients are helped to get off the streets and receive customized solution-focused support services to help them achieve self-sufficiency. All residents receive three meals a day, clothing, and basic hygiene items.
They are also connected with custom supportive case management services and have access to all the programs the Opportunity Center offers.
While in the emergency shelter, the residents work together to maintain the facilities clean, advocate for each other, connect each other to resources, and encourage each other to make positive changes in their lives.
We offer three meals daily, showers, laundry facilities, counseling, training and educational programs, legal services, substance use services, and voluntary religious programs.
Since the doors opened in October of 2008, it has become clear that a large portion of the homeless women we serve is comprised of those with mental illness and diverse mental health needs.
Our services continue to evolve to meet the needs of this population, assisting the women in complying with medication regimens, encouraging them to increase their independence by participating in life skills training and supporting them in pursuit of their goals.
Residents are connected with mental health counseling services and outpatient psychiatric care through the Centro San Vicente clinic or Emergence Health Network.
1220 Myrtle Avenue, El Paso, TX 79901
(915) 915-577-0069 Ext. 266 or (915)245-1065
Program Coordinator: Josie Cobayashi
Willie Sanchez-Rosales Family Center
Located in the heart of downtown El Paso our family center is home to dual-parent families with children.
This one-of-a-kind program is an emergency shelter keeping families together by working as a team to enable their return to the community as self-reliant citizens. By keeping children and parents together, we reduce the traumatic stress on parents and anxiety on children.
Our mission is to provide safe and secure shelter, as well as assist both parents in finding employment and permanent homes.
The family shelter curriculum involves four areas of priorities which are economic growth, employment, family cohesiveness, and health.
Parents are also offered job preparation and training skills, self-help programs, support groups, individualized support services, and treatment programs as needed.
The Willie Sanchez-Rosales Family Center maintains a strong support system forged with a family-like atmosphere where residents live, work, and assists each other to develop resources and skills to maintain permanent independent living arrangements and better quality care of their children.
Weekly meetings with families provide a foundation for discovering particular needs, capabilities, and special needs of children who are often moving through a traumatic experience and struggling to adapt to being without a home, starting a new school, making new friends, and/or discovering themselves.
The staff helps the residents develop a specific self-sufficiency plan based on the needs and goals of each family. No matter what the situation is, we are always ready to help!
510 Oregon Street, El Paso, TX 79901
(915) 691-2396
Program Coordinator: Omar Anguiano
La Casa de las Abuelitas
The Shelter for the Elderly and Frail (SELF) or La Casa de las Abuelitas is the newest addition to our network of emergency lodging opening its doors in March 2016.
The Abuelitas program houses the Shelter for the Elderly and Frail (SELF), all of which are over the age of 50 with a majority over 60 years of age.
Many of the ladies have special needs which may include but are not limited to: mental and physical frailty, victims of violence, family abandonment, no family or support system, and substance use concerns, and emotional wellbeing.
The facility where the Abuelitas live was initially utilized as a Women’s Transitional Living Center (TLC) through support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). However, in recent years, HUD has focused their funding toward permanent housing solutions, as such funding ceased in September, 2016 for the TLC.
The loss of funding is concerning, but we viewed it as a blessing because a facility that focused on the needs of elderly and frail women was desperately needed.
Our community, through the work of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless (OC), is seeing alarming trends that continue to this day. We have seen a 20% increase per year in unique individuals served through the Women’s Shelter over the past two years – a majority are women over the age of 50 with limited options.
La Casa de las Abuelitas, Spanish for the home of the little grandmothers, is a two-story structure that houses 16 women in a supported, and self-contained environment sharing communal areas such as the kitchen, lounge, laundry room, and garden.
1318 Myrtle Avenue
El Paso Texas 79901
(915) 313-9899
Program Coordinator: Ivonne Urbina