Although the weather has been nice of late, church and homeless advocacy leaders are still working to be prepared when rain returns.

After the approval of an ordinance that will allow Murrieta churches to open and operate seasonal homeless shelters for families, pastors and representatives of Project TOUCH, a homeless support services group, have been holding meetings to see how, or whether, they want to apply for a shelter permit in the city.

In the interim, Project TOUCH President Anne Unmacht said six of about 20 people who had been seeking shelter at an impromptu shelter that opened in Murrieta church in January have since been placed in established shelters in Riverside and Moreno Valley. But about 15 more people, including single mothers, a middle-age couple and a woman with breast cancer, remain homeless in Murrieta.

It's unclear when the group may submit a formal shelter application to the city.

"I pray it's soon, but I don't know," Unmacht said. "Right now we know that an endeavor like this takes an enormous amount of money, and the city has said they have no money for this, so we have to see who's sitting at the table."

The ordinance, approved unanimously by the City Council in early February, allows a church to operate a seasonal shelter for families only.

Council members agreed to waive restrictions that would otherwise prevent a shelter operation in certain areas of the city, but are requiring churches that want to open shelters to provide showers and lockers for the people staying at the shelter, as well as a financial plan and a plan to show how they will relocate people who do not qualify for shelter in the city. The diversion would apply to people who are suspected of being under the influence of a controlled substance, or adults who do not have juvenile children.

As news of the city's landmark ordinance spread, letters in support of the homeless shelter effort flooded a post office box for Project TOUCH, as did donations. Unmacht said she has received nearly $3,500 in personal donations made to the homeless shelter effort.

Additionally, leaders of the Orange County Rescue Mission have pledged to raise $1 million toward building a shelter in the region.

But the ordinance also caused a church pastor who had been allowing the local homeless population to stay in his sanctuary while heavy rain storms drenched Southwest County last month to close the impromptu shelter.

Pastor Jonathan Maxey of Grace of Temecula Valley Church in Murrieta said he closed the emergency shelter because he was worried that if he didn't, it could hinder a future bid to establish a permitted shelter. The 20 people who had been sleeping in that Murrieta sanctuary were temporarily housed at Mountain View Church in Temecula before returning to the streets.

Since then, Maxey and other church leaders have regrouped and begun analyzing the provisions in the new ordinance to see exactly what they will be required to provide to establish a legal shelter.

While organizers on all sides of the homeless situation in the city continue hashing out the details of how, when and where a shelter will open, they all agree that the need must be addressed.

"It's a very steep climb," Maxey said. "Grace (of Temecula Valley) by itself can't take this on, so we need the counsel of the people who are experienced in those particular areas to see if it's feasible for us as a congregation to take that on."

Call staff writer Nelsy Rodriguez at 951-676-4315, ext. 2626.