Trailers roll onto O.C. fairgrounds to house homeless during coronavirus pandemic

A trailer arrives Friday at the Orange County fairgrounds parking lot, where Costa Mesa will house members of its homeless population who may be vulnerable to the coronavirus.

April 10, 2020 Updated 3:33 PM PT

Ten trailers arrived at the Orange County fairgrounds Friday as Costa Mesa continues to bolster its backup resources for housing the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic.

The city requested the trailers from the state, which distributed 78 across Orange County, including to Anaheim, Santa Ana and Laguna Beach. At least one of the two trailers Laguna Beach requested has arrived at the city’s homeless shelter, the Alternative Sleeping Location on Laguna Canyon Road, city spokeswoman Cassie Walder said.

Costa Mesa Assistant City Manager Susan Price called the trailers “an additional tool in the toolbox.” They will serve as a backup option should the city need extra space to house people from its homeless population who are seniors or have underlying health conditions, according to city spokesman Tony Dodero.

Already, the city is bringing unhoused senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses to hotels in the county, Price said Tuesday.

Mercy House, the nonprofit organization that runs the city’s homeless shelter at Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene, would maintain and operate the trailers if they are used, Dodero said. The trailers are at the O.C. fairgrounds in the corner of parking lot G near Gate 10.

The inside of a trailer at the Orange County fairgrounds that will house members of its homeless population.

“Fairgrounds all over the state are being called into service to assist their communities, and we are happy to do our part in helping Orange County through this pandemic,” OC Fair & Event Center CEO Michele Richards said in a statement.

Three buildings in the Fair & Event Center Main Mall area also are being considered as a possible backup medical site for overflow patients from local hospitals, according to a news release.

The state has already chosen Fairview Developmental Center as a regional facility to house non-coronavirus patients from local hospitals in the event of an expected surge in coronavirus cases.

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