John Shelter has been trying to provide homeless men and women with work in Humboldt County for decades, and his latest cleanup project has led to a contract agreement between Shelter’s New Directions program and Caltrans.
New Directions will clean up the areas under 10 bridges in Arcata and Eureka, including the Samoa Bridge and the Eureka Slough Bridge, so that Caltrans inspectors and work crews can perform required maintenance and inspections.
Shelter’s aim is to help homeless men and women turn their lives around.
“The philosophy is employment,” Shelter said on Friday. “Get them up and working, get them going and then address the mental health and addiction and you have a new direction. We change attitudes that change behavior.”
