The local homeless population will have to wait a little longer
before the county’s first winter shelter is open after a lack of
building materials set back completion of the project about a
week.
Hollister – The local homeless population will have to wait a little longer before the county’s first winter shelter is open after a lack of building materials set back completion of the project about a week.
The homeless task force, a collaboration of local leaders and organizations, county, local churches and the community, was hoping the open the shelter on Southside Road at the end of November. Construction was delayed, however, after the nation’s supply of sheetrock – a board-like material used for walls – was temporarily diverted to the Gulf Coast to aid in rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina ravaged that region in late August.
The needed sheetrock has arrived, and workers are putting the final touches on the structure, which will give up to 28 people a place to sleep during cold, wet winter nights. Now the task force is hopping to open the shelter by the first weekend in December.
“We’re pretty much ready to go, only the rooms aren’t quite finished,” said Kathy Ruiz, chairwoman of the homeless task force. “We planed on (opening) on the 28th, but it’s going to be later.”
Once open, the county’s homeless will be able to use the shelter from 6pm to 6am through mid-March. In addition to a place to sleep the facility will offer dinners, which will be provided by many local churches, and myriad services, such as mental health, employment and medical services. The shelter will also have security and on-site supervision.
Also, a public bus will make a special run each evening at 6pm from the bus stop on Fourth and San Benito streets to the shelter, which is located on the same property as the migrant labor camp on Southside Road in southern Hollister. Each morning a bus will bring people back into town.
Last spring about 16 homeless people were accounted for in San Benito County, Task Force member Councilman Doug Emerson said. But, he added, he has heard talk of there being many more. Construction of the shelter is being paid for with a no-interest loan from the Hollister Redevelopment Agency, Emerson said. Operating cost for two years will be covered by a $139,500 state grant, according to Ruiz.
For some, providing a winter shelter for the homeless residents has long been a goal.
In 2004, Marley Holte – organizer of Marley Holte Dinners, which provides meals for homeless residents – secured a state grant to start a shelter at the Armory at the Hollister Municipal Airport. But he lost the funding when resistance from the Federal Aviation Administration made it impossible for him to use that location.
Early this year, members of the Hollister City Council and San Benito County Board of Supervisors joined with Holte and other local nonprofits and put together the homeless task force with the goal of opening a shelter.
“It all just sort of started to happen,” Emerson said.
Ruiz, who also works with Sacred Heart Church delivering meals to the homeless, praised the volunteers that have worked toward opening the shelter.
“I’ve never worked with a group of people so eager … just doing a beautiful job. I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.
She also said that it is important to understand that people without homes of their own aren’t necessarily so different than those who get to snuggle up under their own roof each night.
“With the economy not doing well it could happen to anybody – losing a job and not being able to afford high rent in Hollister,” she said.
The homeless task force is still seeking volunteers to serve meals at the shelter this winter. For more information call Leigh Deitz at 801-9531. Or attend a task force meeting; it meets every 2pm every Friday at the Hollister Fire Station meeting room.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
