The mural wrapped around three exterior walls of the former All Star Lodge in San Bernardino tells the collective story of those who now call the converted motel home.
Step Up in San Bernardino is a 76-unit apartment complex for seniors considered chronically homeless, or living without shelter for more than 12 months. As such, muralist Ryan “Yanoe” Sarfati used monochromatic black and gray paint on the front of the three-story building to capture the barrenness of the streets.
Follow the mural counterclockwise from G Street and see colorful flowers on the northern wall symbolize hope and liveliness.
A window on this side of the building frames a recreated sunset, a sign of life inside.
More flowers lead the eye around the corner to two vibrant characters painted three stories tall on the rear walls.
A brighter future for the city’s most vulnerable homeless individuals.
Six weeks after San Bernardino leaders declared homelessness a local emergency, state and city officials joined Step Up and Shangri-La Industries Thursday, March 16, in unveiling new permanent supportive housing for chronically unhoused seniors.
“It’s amazing what can happen when you have great leadership and a willingness to do something different,” Shangri-La CEO Andy Meyers told those assembled Thursday. “Life in here doesn’t stop at the construction. It’s now beginning with the services Step Up is providing. The mural, the partnerships, the leadership, it all goes hand in hand to create not an apartment building, but a vibrant community of individuals who were previously homeless and now have the opportunity to live their best life.”
Step Up in San Bernardino is a stone’s throw from the 215 Freeway near the 5th Street Gateway, a commercial project which at the moment is undergoing an expansive redevelopment.
There are 64 studio apartments between 213 and 257 square feet in the Step Up complex, as well as 12 one-bedroom spaces ranging from 375 to 484 square feet. Certain units have been made accessible for those with mobility, aural or visual disabilities.
“Dignified and affordable places to call their own,” Mayor Helen Tran called the rooms.
An indoor community space is useable, as those who played Bingo inside Thursday morning can attest, though still under construction.
Pets are welcomed to stay so long as the owner pays a $200 deposit and provides current vaccination documents.
All rooms require a key fob to enter and are furnished with a mounted SmartTV, a twin bed, a dinette set and mini refrigerator.
Tenants can personalize the space however they please.
WiFi and other utilities are included in rent. Residents pay 30% of the area medium income, which for one person is a maximum of about $19,000 annually and $24,000 yearly for two people.
While the kitchen sink, single electric stove burner and private bathroom are blessings to elderly tenants who made do outside for years, perhaps the greatest blessing is what’s overhead when they’re standing inside.
A roof.
“There is nothing that is a higher priority for us than making sure we take care of our unhoused,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino, said Thursday. “This is a matter of dignity and well-being. Everybody deserves an opportunity to live in a facility, to be housed and to have the resources they need to succeed.”
Shangri-La and the state’s Homekey program funded the project, and the entirety of construction was handled by local laborers.
Work was completed in 12 months.
“It takes a community to bring these projects online,” Step Up President and CEO Tod Lipka said. “If people are homeless, you can’t solve their single most important problem. You have to provide homes.
“And this motel conversion is one of the models we’ve been working on to get housing online faster and cheaper.”
Step Up and Shangri-La in January.
The partners intend to complete 11 more projects this year alone.
Step Up in San Bernardino offers wraparound services to get residents back on their feet and is but one part of the city’s Homeless Action Plan, a roadmap to assist unsheltered individuals in town.
More than 40% of San Bernardino County’s unhoused population lay their heads in San Bernardino.
According to the 2022 Point-In-Time Homeless Count, 992 people in town were counted as unsheltered, with 358 others either sheltered or in transitional housing.
Since the City Council unanimously declared homelessness a local emergency Feb. 1, a task force of key city staff has met to discuss the status of current initiatives, additional needs, clarify city policies, community messaging, partnerships and funding.
Staff presently is reviewing proposals for contracting a Homeless Outreach Team.
Additionally, an architectural firm is evaluating the condition of an East Sixth Street site where a navigation center for homeless individuals is planned.
“Homelessness and a lack of affordable housing are a crisis in San Bernardino and our region,” Tran said, “and these types of results-driven partnerships will be key to ensure folks are kept off the streets and have a place to call home.”
All referrals to Step Up in San Bernardino are made through the county’s Coordinated Entry System (CES), which quickly matches homeless persons with the intervention that will most efficiently and effectively get them housed when there is availability.
“This partnership between Step Up and and Shangri-La has been very exciting,” Lipka said, “and we look to continue to do great things and to be a solution not only for the city of San Bernardino, but the county of San Bernardino as well.”
