Police and residents share concerns about Navigation Center’s first year, note signs of progress

A year after Palm Springs opened its Navigation Center to help move unhoused residents into stable housing, both police and neighbors say the facility has made progress but also created new challenges, including drawing people seeking services not just from the city but from across and outside the Coachella Valley.

The Navigation Center on McCarthy Road provides 80 modular units and 50 shelter beds, along with case management, job training and health care. Funded largely through the state’s Project Homekey program, it was designed as a low-barrier resource to move people from the streets into long-term housing.

At a community meeting Monday evening, police, city officials and a representative of the center’s operator — Martha’s Village & Kitchen — met with nearby residents to discuss the facility’s first year. The session, held at the Palm Springs Police Department’s training center, was intended to address neighborhood concerns about safety, loitering and the facility’s growing regional impact.

Lt. Mike Villegas said police calls for service at the site have remained consistent, despite public perception. The department handled 226 calls in 2024 and 290 so far this year, more than half of which were medical or fire-related. Arrests tied to the center remain in the single digits.

Still, Villegas and Lt. Michael Torres said Palm Springs is feeling new strain as people arrive from other cities — and even other states — because they’ve heard the city offers shelter and support.

“We’re completely tapped out,” Torres said. “People are coming here because they know we have resources.”

Police have begun tracking where individuals are coming from and have asked surrounding agencies not to transport people into the city. “We just don’t have the capacity,” Torres said.

Councilmember Grace Garner, who represents District 1, where the Navigation Center is located, said collaboration among cities is critical to easing the burden on Palm Springs.

“We want this to work,” she said. “We’re learning how to best coordinate with police, fire and service providers. But this has to be a regional effort — we can’t carry it alone.”

Anne Eyring, a senior director who oversees the facility for Martha’s Village & Kitchen, said the center is beginning to show results: 12 residents have found permanent housing and 26 have gained jobs since it opened last November. Both the transitional housing units and overnight shelter remain full.

Residents at the meeting said they see both progress and persistent problems. Some thanked police for reducing trespassing in some areas of Palm Springs, while others voiced concerns about loitering and public disturbances at Tower Market off North Indian Canyon Drive and elsewhere in the surrounding area.

“We’re not against the homeless,” said ShaCoya White, who lives in the nearby Desert Highland Gateway Estates neighborhood. “But there are people camping, loitering and being a nuisance at the bus stops. That’s the problem.”

Others questioned whether the city placed an unfair burden on their community. Dieter Crawford, another Desert Highland Gateway Estates resident and longtime community activist, said his neighborhood’s history of displacement underlies its skepticism.

“We feel like the homeless were redlined to our community just like we were,” he said. “Our concern is for our children and whether this program is truly working.”

Eyring said the Navigation Center remains a learning process but is helping people rebuild their lives through a “housing first” model. “It’s not perfect, but we are seeing progress,” she said.

Villegas closed the meeting by encouraging residents to continue reporting issues while the city works to balance compassion with public safety.

“This isn’t going anywhere,” he said. “The Navigation Center is here to stay, and the only way we make it work is by working together.”

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