Compassion Center hepls families, day laborers, veterans find shelter

Published in the Oct. 15-28, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Jan Bernstein Chargin

Jan Bernstein Chargin

Jan Bernstein Chargin

Everyone needs a safe and legal place to sleep — and sometimes to do homework.

Although we’ve had a recent heat wave, the nights are getting colder. For people without a safe and legal place to sleep, the most difficult time of year is fast approaching.

The cold weather shelter in Gilroy does not open until after Thanksgiving. Most people don’t realize that there is no year-round shelter for the homeless in South County.

Who are the homeless? They are parents, children, college students, day laborers, people with disabilities, cancer patients, seniors, minimum wage employees and military veterans. They are as different from one another as we all are, but they have something in common — they can’t afford a place to live. At last count there were more than 1,000 people in this situation in South County.

South County now has a drop-in day center to meet some of these needs, in the Gilroy Compassion Center, but more is still needed: year-round access to shelter. Thanks to the individuals and groups in Morgan Hill that support the Gilroy Compassion Center — which also serves Morgan Hill residents — including the Ladies of Charity and the Morgan Hill Community Foundation, we have taken the first steps towards creating a year-round solution.

The Gilroy Compassion Center has always had as a main goal the provision of year-round alternatives to the streets for people who are homeless. The organization and Day Center have been operating in donated warehouse space for the past four years.

One year is left to use this space rent-free. The Compassion Center is working to purchase a property that can house the organization and Day Center in the future, and can also be used for shelter.

In addition, Santa Clara County is also making the modular buildings that formerly served as a temporary courthouse in San Martin available, if they can be moved to new sites.

This presents the opportunity to provide shelter is more than one location, or to serve different populations at different sites. Therefore, the Compassion Center is also investigating available land to which some or all of these modulars could be moved.

The cost of housing in the Bay Area has made it impossible for many people at the low-end of the income scale to find housing. Many are on waiting lists for affordable housing, veterans’ housing, or senior housing. These lists can be months to years long. For some, barriers posed by mental illness, brain injury and other disabilities make it difficult to navigate community resources.

We know what works — in the long term: permanent affordable housing, plus the supportive services needed to help people retain that housing.
In the short term: emergency assistance that provides a safe and legal place to sleep, meets basic human needs like food, clothing, mailing addresses, and connections to resources like education, jobs, counseling, and healthcare. (Although these things cost money, so do police, jails, courts, and encampment clean-ups, which do nothing to reduce homelessness, and actually contribute to the downward spiral.)

Together, we can make a difference. Anyone who would like to assist with either of these efforts is invited to join the team. To get involved, call (408) 843-8691.

Jan Bernstein Chargin is the board chair of the Gilroy Compassion Center. She wrote this for Morgan Hill Life.