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# OPCC umbrella about to expand
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/opcc-umbrella-about-to-expand/
- Published: 2005-02-23T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T06:09:32.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Community, Ocean Park, #archive-import, Homeless

*Homeless services provider will take over at least one program from Salvation Army*

Santa Monica’s largest provider of homeless services is expanding.

Ocean Park Community Center, which spends $5.7 million a year helping homeless and other disadvantaged residents, this summer will take over at least one of two Salvation Army programs that operate out of the Big Blue Bus yards on Olympic Boulevard.

Beginning July 1, a shower, locker and laundry program called SWASHLOCK will fall under OPCC’s control. Last week, Salvation Army officials asked that OPCC also take over a 110-bed shelter known as SAMOSHEL, saying it made sense to consolidate the programs under one agency.

“It’s easy to forget that SAMOSHEL essentially was on loan to the Salvation Army, but all along we were aware that the structure, the land and the majority of funding belonged to the city of Santa Monica,” said Major Paul R. Seiler, divisional commander of the Salvation Army for Southern California. “We believe the timing is right to hand the baton to OPCC. One agency overseeing the three programs makes the best management decision.”

OPCC, which receives about $800,000 in funding from City Hall each year, already has a presence at the bus yards. It spends $900,000 annually to run an “Access Center” that provides 300 people a day with everything from food and clothing to mental health counseling.

Julie Rusk, human services director for City Hall, agreed with Seiler, saying OPCC was a natural choice to take control of SAMOSHEL. She said city staffers received notice that the Salvation Army intended to leave just days ago and were researching how to transfer control to another group.

A0A,“Our main concern is that the program continue to operate,” she said.

SAMOSHEL receives a $418,000 annual grant from City Hall, while SWASHLOCK benefits from $112,000 in city funding, according to Rusk.

Rusk said the transfer of power likely can happen without a vote of the Santa Monica City Council, as there is a clause in the Salvation Army’s contract that allows them to recommend another social service agency and OPCC is a vetted agency that has already worked with City Hall.

The Salvation Army has run SAMOSHEL for more than 10 years. Capt. Brian West, a spokesman, said the group hopes to focus on other areas of need in Santa Monica and will continue to provide emergency assistance, and family and youth programs at the Santa Monica Corps Community Center on Fourth Street; a substance abuse program at the Adult Rehabilitation Center on 11th Street; and low-income housing for seniors at the Silvercrest on Fifth Street.

John Maceri, executive director of OPCC, said he was very interested in possibly taking over SAMOSHEL, but added it would be a big undertaking.

“From our perspective, what we would want is to spend some time with Salvation Army and the city,” he said. “We need to really understand how the program operates. What are the resources there? On a go-forward basis, what is the city’s idea for the program?

“There’s a lot of focus right now at looking at homeless services and how the system works and functions,” added Maceri, during a Tuesday interview. “SAMOSHEL is a city-funded program on transportation property and, on a go-forward basis, the city is going to have to decide how they see the beds at SAMOSHEL being used in the continuum of care.”

All city-funded social service groups are tied into what’s dubbed the continuum of care, a network that tracks the progress of service recipients.

Before it agrees to accept control, OPCC needs to learn more about the particulars of the SAMOSHEL program, Maceri added. To make an informed decision, OPCC officials would need to tour the SAMOSHEL facility and review its programs and finances.

Finally, before OPCC can begin running the property, Maceri said it will need to secure the funding. He expressed particular concern over the fact that an unknown portion of SAMOSHEL’s current revenue comes from federal grants — grants that recently have diminished.

“Does it make sense form an operational standpoint?” Maceri said. “SAMOSHEL is a large program and we have a lot on our plate already. Is this the right time and does this make sense? Those are the issues we have to evaluate.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 23, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022305.pdf?ref=smdp.com)