Homeless Coalition seeks volunteers to help with meals
As the Community Action Board celebrated a ribbon cutting Oct.
22, for the new bunkhouse and kitchen facilities at the San Benito
County Migrant Center, the Homeless Coalition is preparing to open
the shelter for the season.
Cindy Parr, the executive director of the Homeless Coalition and
manager of the shelter, said she is excited about the opening of
the kitchen. While the facility was under construction, the
Homeless Shelter had volunteers cook at the community center in
Hollister and drive food up for the clients. They used paper plates
since they didn’t have a sink to do dishes.
Homeless Coalition seeks volunteers to help with meals
As the Community Action Board celebrated a ribbon cutting Oct. 22, for the new bunkhouse and kitchen facilities at the San Benito County Migrant Center, the Homeless Coalition is preparing to open the shelter for the season.
Cindy Parr, the executive director of the Homeless Coalition and manager of the shelter, said she is excited about the opening of the kitchen. While the facility was under construction, the Homeless Shelter had volunteers cook at the community center in Hollister and drive food up for the clients. They used paper plates since they didn’t have a sink to do dishes.
“We lost volunteers who missed the interaction with clients,” Parr said. “Today I saw the facility and we will get the involvement back with our volunteers.”
Parr recalled the years she worked with the shelter, before the renovations of the kitchen started.
“The first two years in that kitchen, I have one word – freezing,” she said. “There was no heat in that kitchen. The poor volunteers had to freeze.”
The open house for the kitchen facilities came just before the homeless shelter opens for the season this week.
“We are getting ready to move back in next Thursday,” Parr said. “We will have four days to prepare to have it open.”
Part of that preparation includes getting the dishes that haven’t been used for a few years out of storage as well as the linens and other supplies.
“We are ready,” Parr said. “I think we will have a busier year. There are a lot of new people in town.”
Parr stays in touch with many of the clients who use the shelter when it is closed for the season in the spring. She has met some younger residents, just out of high school, who are living on the streets. She got a call from K&S Property Management about a younger guy sleeping in a warehouse facility.
“He said his mom kicked him out,” Parr said.
She said some of the new people she’s seen may be from out of town, but she will know more when clients fill out their intake forms at the shelter.
To let clients know that the shelter is opening soon, she is using word of mouth, signs and postings at local markets such as Baler Market and Hollister Super.
The Homeless Coalition leases a facility with 28 beds, but Parr said she is hopeful if there are more clients on any night that she will be able to work with the Farm Bureau, which operates the facility, to get more space.
“My hope is not to have to turn anyone away,” she said.
Though she had volunteers lined up to help with the set up, Parr is still seeking volunteers or groups who want to sign up to cook meals at the shelter. She still has 27 days without a group scheduled to cook and a volunteer is helping to coordinate the schedule.
This year, Parr has coordinated for the Homeless Coalition to adopt stretches of roadway along Highways 156 and 25.
“We will get the clients involved and go out and do the clean-up,” she said.
COG also voted to donate an old transit van to the shelter, which will make the trips easier.
The benefit will be “the visibility,” Parr said. “People will be driving by and see these homeless people are willing to work. I think it will be a really, really positive outcome.”
Parr will again meet with the Monterey County continuum of care and is looking into federal grants to which the Coalition can apply.
“We’re ready,” she said. “And you look at the weather today. The time is perfect here. We will be busy this year with case management with clients. We are really focusing with getting them on their feet.”
The Homeless Coalition will host an open house Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Members of the public are welcome to visit.
Volunteers are still needed to cook and serve meals at the shelter. For more information, or to sign up, call Cindy Parr at 801-9531.
