By Jorge Casuso
February 20, 2026 -- For the first time, the City Council on Tuesday will expand its search for transitional housing and services for the homeless far outside Santa Monica.
An item added Thursday evening to the Council's closed session agenda includes negotiating the "price and terms of payment of lease" for space at the Salvation Army Shelter in Bell -- some 20 miles east of the city limits.
The closed session agenda also includes continuing negotiations to lease space at three properties in Santa Monica used as transitional housing for the homeless funded by LA County.
The Salvation Army's Bell Shelter is located is a small, overwhelmingly Latino suburb on the west bank of the Los Angeles River near East LA.
The shelter "provides a supportive, safe, and nurturing environment for adults who are experiencing homelessness," according to the shelter's website.
"The goal of each employee is to provide each participant with the best opportunity to access and maintain permanent housing and a higher quality of life, emotionally, physically, and spiritually," the website states
The shelter's housing programs include low-barrier crisis housing, bridge and transitional housing, veteran housing and permanent supportive housing at the Salvation Armey's Bell Oasis Apartments.
The shelter also offers a medical State-licensed residential substance abuse treatment program, according to the website.
The Bell Shelter's services include case management, specialized veterans’ programs, individual and group therapy and referrals for mental health services, a mobile clinic, medication management and life skills classes.
The Council's closed-door negotiations come as City officials have said they are looking at options to relocate homeless services and temporary shelter from Downtown as a key component of a citywide "Realignment Plan."
Under the plan, the SAMOSHEL homeless shelter operated by The People Concern, formerly OPPC, would be shut down at its current location at 515 Olympic Boulevard next to the 10 Freeway Downtown.
The three-decade's old white tent-like structure expanded its hours to begin taking in clients around the clock in May 2024 after major renovations were completed to create a separate intake area.
The City's 2023-24 Fiscal Year budget allocated $800,000 to boost services under a newly created department to tackle Santa Monica's persistent homeless problem.
But the City's expansion of homeless services has been met with stiff opposition from businesses and residents who complain Santa Monica's homeless population is contributing to crime and anti-social behavior.
Last October, plans to open County-funded programs that offer transitional housing for the mentally ill homeless on Ocean Avenue in were derailed by a community outcry in the City's upscale north side ("Ocean Avenue Mental Health Projects Pulled," October 27, 2025).
At the City Council meeting last Tuesday, community leaders from the Pico and Sunset Park neighborhoods testified against the City's negotiations to lease spaces for the homeless in their neighborhoods ("Plan to Lease Homeless Facilities Gets Pushback," February 13, 2026).
Two of the properties -- at 1905 and 2019 Pico Boulevard -- are operated by in the Pico Neighborhood by The Manor, which provides transitional housing for mentally ill homeless individuals funded by the County.
The third is the Palm Motel at 2020 14th Street in Sunset Park, which the County has been using as a homeless shelter and will vacate in coming months.