The Salvation Army’s Depot Family Crisis Center, located inside Marysville’s historic train station at 408 J St., is set to close after more than 30 years of operation as a family shelter in Yuba-Sutter. The building sits alongside active rail lines in downtown Marysville. Photo by Shamaya Sutton

SUTTER COUNTY, CA (MPG) - The Salvation Army Yuba-Sutter Corps announced earlier this month that it will close the Depot Family Crisis Center, located at 408 J St. in Marysville inside the city’s historic train station, ending more than three decades of operation as one of the region’s only family shelters.

The Depot opened in 1990 and has served hundreds of families over the years, but Corps Officer Capt. Larry J. Carmichael said its closure may not have the widespread impact some fear, given other shelters expected to expand services in the coming months.

“REST (Regional Emergency Shelter Team) has said it may be able to extend its services for a couple months and assist with families, and Habitat for Humanity has plans to open a shelter in March that will also house families,” said Carmichael. “It sounds like the net result in two months will be the reduction of one family dorm for the whole community.”

Even so, Carmichael emphasized that the decision did not come easily. He said the closure followed multiple organizational reviews and discussions with local advisory boards and community partners. According to Carmichael, the Depot has operated at a deficit since opening and has accumulated approximately $1.6 million in losses over the past five years alone.

“It never had a year in which it closed in the black,” Carmichael said. “If we were to keep it open though this fiscal year, we would be adding another 600 to almost $700,000 dollars to that dept — at that point we would be putting the whole Salvation Army Yuba Sutter Corps at risk of closing, and we have been operation here in yuba and Sutter County since 1888.”

Signage marks the entrance to the Salvation Army Depot Family Crisis Center in Marysville. The organization announced earlier this month that the shelter will close following decades of operation, citing long-term financial deficits and rising operational costs. Photo courtesy of Salvation Army Yuba-Sutter Corps

Historically, the Salvation Army kept the Depot operating through a combination of fundraising, private donations and grant funding. However, rising maintenance and operational costs, coupled with declining revenue, made the program increasingly unsustainable. Carmichael also cited the challenges of maintaining the aging building and the complexities tied to surrounding ground maintenance as factors that contributed to the decision to sell the property.

“I learned (Jan. 8) that Amtrak might be coming back through town and that they were already planning a train station about three hundred yards from our current building,” Carmichael said. “There has been some interest from Yuba County supervisors as well as City Council members in Marysville. Those discussions have not formally started, but the Army is committed to making sure the Depot does not become another vacant building or blight.”

As of Jan. 9, Carmichael said the Salvation Army had only three remaining households at the Depot still finalizing housing plans. Most families and individuals have already been assisted with transitioning to other shelter or housing options.

“It’s not uncommon for us to place 15 households in a month,” he said. “Some of them may have stayed on with us longer just to save up a little bit more money or do some other pieces, but the 30-day wind-down is not really an expedited timeline.”

In a typical year, Carmichael said the Depot served about 150 households, or roughly 400 individuals. By comparison, the Salvation Army Yuba-Sutter Corps as a whole recorded more than 181,000 points of contact and service across Yuba and Sutter counties in the same period.

“It’s a significant program, it’s filled a need for the community for a very long time, but when we’re looking at just pure numbers it is fractionally a portion of services we render,” Carmichael said.

While the Depot Family Crisis Center is closing, the Salvation Army Yuba-Sutter Corps will continue operating its other programs throughout the region. These include homelessness prevention services that offer limited financial assistance, food and nutrition programs such as pantry services, grocery distribution and medically tailored meals, housing navigation and tenancy support programs designed to help residents maintain long-term housing stability and an enhanced care management team that assists clients with accessing resources and transportation to medical appointments.

More information about the Salvation Army Yuba-Sutter Corps and its programs is available at salvationarmyusa.org.