Amid financial turmoil and budget bludgeoning, the city’s Veterans Winter Shelter opened in Point Loma on Dec. 9. The 150-bed shelter, operated by the nonprofit Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD) took in a record 138 veterans on the first day and is already at capacity. “We don’t really care where they come from. We just know that they wind up at our doorstep,” said VVSD president Phil Landis. “If you’re homeless and you’re a veteran and you live anywhere in San Diego County, you know about us. And if you’re going to be in a shelter, ours is the one that you’d prefer to be in.” VVSD has operated the shelter since 1997 and spent the last five years at 2801 Sports Arena Blvd., a location donated by the Navy. The shelter opened two days earlier than its scheduled date of Dec. 11 to give some additional relief from recent rains. “We see providing a winter shelter specifically for veterans as a moral imperative,” Landis said. “There isn’t enough shelter as it is and I think the nation, at a minimum, should provide the means whereby a homeless veteran can get out of the rain.” According to Landis, the shelter opened despite being about $50,000 short of funds. He said donations are necessary for the shelter to run, and they have not been as steady in 2009 as in previous years. “This is heralded as a city shelter, but that’s really a misnomer,” Landis said. “This is our 13th year and every year since its inception, the city’s contribution has never been enough to fully support the cost of running the shelter. VVSD has kicked in every year.” Landis said VVSD contemplated opening the shelter with fewer services and beds to break even. In the end though, he decided that was not an option. “We are opening the shelter knowing in advance that we don’t have all the money — without borrowing it — to run it,” Landis said. “We’re just going to figure it out as we go.” Applicants to the shelter — which will remain open until April 8 — go through a thorough background check before they are accepted. That process includes confirming that the person is a veteran through the Department of Veterans Affairs and what Landis called a comprehensive needs assessment. “We do an extensive assessment and intake,” Landis said. “Unlike other shelters where the folks just come in and are assigned a bed, this is a comprehensive service model that’s wrapped around a winter shelter. What we do is really unique because it is so comprehensive.” Landis said the veterans who take advantage of the annual shelter come from various parts of the county and their average age is late 40s to early 50s. He said the makeup of the shelter actually goes against a misperception about the demographics of the shelter — that it is full of primarily Vietnam War veterans. “They come from every era, from World War II to the current conflict,” Landis said. “What we’re seeing are younger and younger and younger people.” Local grassroots organization Girls Think Tank (GTT) is already chipping in to aid veterans staying at the shelter. The organization held its fourth annual Winter Survival Backpack Event on Wednesday, Dec. 16, when participants distributed 150 backpacks filled with hats, gloves, toiletries, blankets, towels, and food, along with donations of clothing and books. “With the Winter Survival Backpack project, Girls Think Tank and its supporters are able to show thanks to military veterans who have served our nation and given of themselves,” said Amylu Weas, GTT’s project director for Winter Survival Backpack Event. For more information about VVSD or to donate money for the Veterans Winter Shelter program, visit www.vvsd.net. Additional donations can be made by calling all VVSD executive assistant Rod Stark at (619) 393-2034.