The only homeless shelter in San Benito County will close for
the season this week. But the group that has operated the shelter
from late November to mid-March for the past two years is busier
than ever.
The only homeless shelter in San Benito County will close for the season this week. But the group that has operated the shelter from late November to mid-March for the past two years is busier than ever.
Last Friday, the San Benito County Homeless Task Force reapplied for $140,000 in grant funding through the same federal program that helped open the shelter in 2005. The group also is firming up plans for a second “Jazz Under the Stars” fundraiser in July at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club. Last year’s jazz benefit drew 300 people and brought in more than $10,000.
But perhaps the most significant step the task force has taken recently is to start recruiting board members, who are expected to take up the task of turning the local shelter into a place where homeless people will find more than a bunk and a hot meal in winter.
The hope is that the organization running the shelter can begin offering a wider array of educational, training and assistance services and programs to combat what task force chairwoman Kathy Ruiz describes as a growing problem in our community.
Formalizing the task force as a nonprofit organization governed by a board will help ensure its future. Expanding its mission would help ensure a better future for the people it serves.
The homeless among us have many faces. Some are the chronic down-and-outers suffering mental illness or caught up in addiction. Some lack the social and job skills needed to keep a roof over their heads. Some are even working people who through an unfortunate string of life events beyond their control – accidents, illness, job loss – are unable to secure or maintain decent, safe and affordable housing for themselves and their families.
All need help, but there’s no single solution to the many different problems that contribute to homelessness here.
The best hope for lifting people out of homelessness – or keeping them from becoming homeless in the first place – is to provide real help in solving their problems.
A network of programs and services that not only provides emergency assistance but also helps people acquire the life skills that lead to stability and security could do far more in the long run than the shelter is able to do now.
