Local activists and city building officials will soon explore
possibilities for a homeless shelter in Hollister.
”
We would love to find a place for a permanent (homeless)
shelter,
”
said Marland Holte, whose annual Thanksgiving and Christmas
dinners feed hundreds each year in San Benito County.
Calling themselves the Community Assistance Program, Holte and a
group of other advocates from the county have scheduled a meeting
on Feb. 24 to discuss a potential shelter.
Local activists and city building officials will soon explore possibilities for a homeless shelter in Hollister.
“We would love to find a place for a permanent (homeless) shelter,” said Marland Holte, whose annual Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners feed hundreds each year in San Benito County.
Calling themselves the Community Assistance Program, Holte and a group of other advocates from the county have scheduled a meeting on Feb. 24 to discuss a potential shelter. The group includes representatives from the United Way, Fishes and Loaves, Community Pantry, the Salvation Army, Victim/Witness, the Homeless Coalition and Community Services Workforce Development.
“We’re all interested in working together as a group,” Holte said.
In 2001, local officials from various government agencies estimated that 4,000 homeless people live in the county. A statewide study in November reported that San Benito County – grouped with Monterey County – suffers the worst rate of “food insecurity” in the Central Coast region. And city building officials have recently disclosed that Hollister has a serious problem with substandard housing.
Working separately from the group that will meet this month, city building officials on Feb. 12 will tour the Armory in Gilroy, a homeless shelter operating daily from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“We’re finding there’s certainly a need,” Code Enforcement Officer Tim Burns said. “We want to do the research to provide information to at least make it known to our bosses what the potential is.”
Associate Planner Maria De Leon will tour the shelter with Burns, who said de Leon has performed “quite a bit of research” on the local homeless issue.
“We’ll see what kind of services they provide and just build from that… I believe there’s a lot of people out there in the city of Hollister who care,” De Leon said. “Something good will come out of it.”
Holte said he and the group of advocates have committed themselves to finding a long-term solution to Hollister’s poverty-related housing problems. The long-term goal, Holte said, is a permanent homeless shelter, and he said the meeting this month is the first step.
CSWD currently runs the only program exclusively for homeless in the county – the Southside Migrant Labor Camp. It’s made up of 16 mobile-home units primarily serving seasonal farm workers. However, the residents can stay only for up to six months, and the camp often maintains a long waiting list for families, according to Kathy Flores of CSWD.
In the short term, Holte said several grants are available that could potentially expand use at the labor camp.
“There’s a lot of money for the homeless,” said Henry Sumaya of the Homeless Coalition. “Hollister has just never gotten together on it.”
Kathleen Reddick Yager, a local activist for the homeless, said the issue just needed the community-wide support it’s now getting.
“There’s a group of people committed to this,” she said. “So I’m excited.”
