Torres Shelter Survives

Monthly donations have doubled.

The Torres Shelter for the homeless was about to close its doors earlier this year until the Chico community stepped in to help. Facing increasing demand for services and lack of funding, the shelter staff needed to come up with creative ways to keep their services going.

The shelter’s budget was $390,000 seven years ago. On Oct. 1, 2015, it was $835,000. It had to increase its budget because it was getting twice as many homeless people walking through its doors compared to last decade. Now the shelter assists around 100 people per day.

When the staff saw that they wouldn’t hit their goals, they announced they were going to cut staff. However, it was soon obvious that no matter how many budget cuts they put into play, they wouldn’t be able to stay in business.

On Jan. 27, 2016, they announced they would close their doors for good. Since that announcement, they have raised $200,000. The majority of the new funds have come from people committing to donate to the shelter monthly.

In 2015, the Torres Shelter received $5,000 from monthly donations. Since the beginning of 2016, that number shot up to $10,000 a month. 

Even with the new funds, the Torres Shelter’s Executive Director, Brad Montgomery, feels they are nowhere where they want to be yet. It takes $25 a day per person to keep the shelter running. “We’re all limping along, yet we’re being asked to solve one of the biggest problems this community faces.”


To boost income, the shelter hosted social events. Empty Bowls was one of its more popular fundraisers, raising more than $10,000. Empty Bowls has been hosted by the shelter for 15 years. People pay $12 and get a homemade bowl. They’re then able to pick from more than 25 different restaurants around town to go to for free soup. 

Another popular fundraising event was a concert that brought in $3,000. Events like the concert are labor intensive, making them hard to host often. However, events benefit the Torres Shelter by raising awareness.


During a Chico City Council meeting March, the board decided to take $7,500 from legal services and use it to help the homeless of Chico. John Peck from the Ad Hoc Citizen Advisory Committee served on the team that worked on how to allocate city resources for the homeless. He played a role in convincing the Chico City Council to give $23,000 to the Torres Shelter.

“The City Council’s decision tonight clearly showed they wanted to support the shelter,” Peck said at the meeting.

Michael Ruiz, a Chico State student who volunteers at the Torres shelter through CAVE said the shelter is a vital service for the homeless. 

“It’s so cool to see people leave with a smile,” Ruiz said. “There’s so many people who need it (the shelter). It’s places like this that help them and if places like this close down, there’s only going to be more people in the street.”