The San Benito County Department of Community Services and
Workforce Development is joining with the Homeless Task Force to
provide a winter shelter for local residents in need.
Hollister – The San Benito County Department of Community Services and Workforce Development is joining with the Homeless Task Force to provide a winter shelter for local residents in need.
“The peace and justice group from Sacred Heart Church started delivering meals to the homeless last spring,” said Kathy Ruiz, chairman of the board for the Homeless Task Force. “But some of us wanted to do more.”
Six dorm rooms from the migrant worker camp property off Southside Road will be converted into one large room for the shelter, which hopefully will be furnished with bunk beds.
“There’s a real need for this sort of thing,” said Ruiz. “Some of them (transients) used to go to the Gilroy Armory in the winter, but they needed to be there by 6pm and out of there by 6am, and a lot of them couldn’t do that.” Just getting to Gilroy was often the hang-up.
To support the project, a request for financial aid was written through the Community Action Board, but word on the availability of those funds is two weeks overdue. The task force is prepared to seek funds from Bank of America and the Community Foundation as well, or to turn to private sources.
In addition to providing a roof, the task force plans to have mental health and substance abuse workers available to those who need them, as well as professionals who can assist with housing plans or employment.
“We’re asking churches to donate meals,” said Ruiz. “We’ve been in contact with several already.”
To ensure the safety of the homeless in the shelter, a monitor will be installed in the room and security personnel will be on duty during the shelter’s operating hours. Fighting will not be tolerated and the obviously intoxicated will not be admitted into the shelter.
Ideally, the shelter will open in mid-November, just before the rainy season sets in, and close its doors in mid-March, after the nights become warmer and less wet. The shelter will probably enforce similar hours as the Gilroy Armory–6:00 in the evening until 6:00 in the morning. An estimated 13 to 15 people per night are expected initially to take advantage of the free meals, bed and other services, but the task force is assuming more will show up in time.
“We’re trying to figure out how to get people to and from the shelter, because it’s out on a country road,” said Ruiz. Currently under consideration is a special deal with County Transit or Dial-A-Ride.
The shelter is part of a massive overhaul of the migrant worker camp complex. The buildings were put up during WWII and no major renovations have taken place since.
The homeless task force is actively searching for interested volunteers to help in the fall when the shelter is officially open. Contact Kathy Ruiz at 637-2258 for more information.
