Possibilities for remodeling the El Toro Youth Center and the
Friendly Inn buildings to accommodate the potential for expanded
services were discussed Wednesday at a workshop held by the Morgan
Hill City Council.
Morgan Hill – Possibilities for remodeling the El Toro Youth Center and the Friendly Inn buildings to accommodate the potential for expanded services were discussed Wednesday at a workshop held by the Morgan Hill City Council.
The city is exploring options for remodeling both public facilities and wants to clarify whether the buildings will continue to serve as subsidized spaces for nonprofit agencies or provide some other role in the community.
The Friendly Inn was built in 1963 with another wing added in 1977 to house a senior center that moved to the Centennial Recreation Center last October. The Mount Madonna YMCA has leased the building since 1992 and maintains administrative offices in the facility. The El Toro Youth Center was established in 1987. The buildings are in need of upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and meet modern standards. They are located by Galvan Park on Crest Avenue.
Representatives from Community Solutions, the nonprofit umbrella agency for El Toro Youth Center, spoke on behalf of keeping the buildings available at low cost for programs serving needy families.
Community Solutions Director Lisa DeSilva said El Toro Youth Center, which provides an after-school program for about 40 kids every day, would remain most effective in its current location because it serves low-income families living in the neighborhood. Many of the families who use the center, she said, would lack transportation to get to youth-oriented programs in other locales.
“The population that’s served by El Toro deserves to be served in their own community,” DeSilva said. “One of the reasons El Toro has been so successful over the years is because it is right there in their neighborhood.”
Dina Campeau, chairperson of a nonprofit consortium called the South County Collaborative, said it’s important for the city to leverage its public buildings to draw important social services into the community. She added San Jose-based organizations that have the capability of going county-wide are often deterred by the cost of office space in South County. And if they do make the investment, they wind up going to Gilroy.
“They’ll say, we’ve got Morgan Hill covered because we’re in Gilroy,” Campeau said. “But we know that transportation is such that Morgan Hill residents are underserved.”
Campeau suggested a number of uses for the Friendly Inn building that would compliment to the role of the Youth Center, such as providing storage space to organize donated goods such as clothing and school supplies. She also emphasized a need for confidential counseling services dealing with substance abuse, gang intervention and other issues.
Jesse Jimenez, who ministers at Victory Outreach in Gilroy, told the council his nonprofit organization is interested is expanding its base of operation to the Friendly Inn. Since last November, the program has been offering classes on anger management, adult education and domestic violence to about 50 people in Gilroy.
“We see gang activity in Morgan Hill, and we want to be able to work hand-in-hand with the community members and to be able to provide these services and give them the help they need,” Jimenez “We believe the Friendly Inn is the perfect location for us to come in and provide those services.”
The city council agreed at the end of the workshop it needed more time to hone a clear policy for the buildings’ future, including whether uses would be limited to social-services groups directly serving the neighborhood. City Manager Ed Tewes said the city wouldn’t be able to seek proposals from agencies that might lease the facilities until a clear policy is established.
