After the closure of the Berkeley Emergency Storm Shelter, or BESS, on Ninth Street, Berkeley resident Kathy Kitzman found herself forced to follow the shelter from one temporary location to the next.

For two weeks, she and others from the Ninth Street location stayed at the North Berkeley Senior Center. When the shelter moved again from the senior center to the Frances Albrier Community Center in San Pablo park Sept. 16, Kitzman moved with it.

While she appreciates the fact that the community center is “clean,” she misses the convenience of the Ninth Street location.

“I go to AA, and it was two blocks away; very convenient,” Kitzman said. “There was a place to store my bedding, hot meals, port-a-potties.”

The Frances Albrier Community Center will close its shelter Sunday. If Berkeley doesn’t find a permanent shelter location by then, the shelter will likely return to the temporary location of the North Berkeley Senior Center, according to David Stegman, the Director of the Dorothy Day shelter.

Vassily Bronson, who both volunteers and stays at the shelter, said the Ninth Street shelter was beneficial for the homeless community. Bronson said he missed the services of the Ninth Street shelter, especially the housing aid and medical assessments offered there.

“I thought it was … great for the homeless population,” Bronson said. “I’m looking for permanent housing. That’s what I’m really geared up for. What I found helpful (from the shelter services) is that they are a different avenues to maybe achieve housing.”

Not all of Berkeley’s homeless population, however, can stay at the shelter; while the Ninth Street location fit 90 beds, the current temporary location can only hold 53. In January 2017, a survey put Berkeley’s estimated homeless population at 972 people. Of the 53 beds, about one-half to two-thirds go to regulars, according to shelter monitor Daniel Burk.

Others, such as 27-year-old Nestor Roman, choose not to stay in the shelter. Roman, who slept outside Urban Outfitters on Bancroft Way on Sunday night, said he no longer likes to stay in shelters. When he stayed in shelters in the past, Roman said other guests allegedly stole from him. Though he said he knew about the shelter, he was wary about sleeping there because he said he didn’t know if it was a “safe place.”

Though BESS typically is only open seasonally, its closing date was extended.

In August, city officials held a brainstorming session for possible permanent locations. The question of where this permanent shelter will be located, however, still has yet to be answered. Since the Ninth Street location closed, shelter has been housed at temporary locations — the North Berkeley Senior Center from Sept. 1-15 and now the Frances Albrier Community Center from Sept. 16-30.

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he hopes the city chooses a location that can serve the needs of the homeless community without disrupting other city services.

“If we could use a space that’s sitting there empty, that would be the least disruptive,” Worthington said. “That’s why I think that the veteran’s building and the Old City Hall are the easiest to use because we own them and the place will be sitting empty.”

Most current guests at the temporary shelter location are unsure about where they will go next, according Burk.

“There’s still sense of community (from the Ninth Street shelter),” Burk said. “(But) there has been some uncertainty among guests about a permanent location and where they’ll go afterwards.”

City spokesperson Matthai Chakko emphasized that the shelter is only one part of Berkeley’s services for the homeless community. The city also runs a number of other services and uses the “Hub” to coordinate help and permanent housing for those most in need, according to Chakko.

“We focus on focus people with disabilities and those who have been on the street for over a year,” Chakko said. “It has a powerful effect on shifting homelessness within a city.”

Contact Alexandra Stassinopoulos at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @AE_Stass

Correction(s):

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that there will be no permanent or temporary overnight shelter in Berkeley after Sept. 30. In fact, if the city doesn’t find a permanent shelter location by then, the shelter will likely return to the temporary location of the North Berkeley Senior Center.