Cover Story
Opportunity Center (continued from page 22)
served for staff breaks to do drugs, he said. “We have to tell them to stay out of the property,” he said of people crossing dangerously in front of cars at the carwash. But he said he has attended a couple of community meetings held by the Community Working Group and Dah has been very responsive to the issues, which have been getting better, he said. On Wednesday morning, an argument broke out on the sidewalk on Encina Way, but Judy Frost, who owns Judith A. Frost Company said the occasional minor disruptions are quickly resolved by staff. “I would have to say they have been good neighbors. If we’ve had an issue one or two times, we call Philip and he takes care of it,” she said. Frost echoed the sentiments of many merchants, including those at nearby Town & Country Village shopping center. “Please don’t put them in a negative light. They are trying really
hard to do good work,” she said. Many Town & Country merchants also said they support the Opportunity Center. When it was first proposed merchants attended city meetings to voice their concern. But there have been few issues, they said. “We’ve had a few incidents, but Palo Alto Police Department and Town & Country Village security have always been real prompt in responding,” said Scott’s Seafood General Manager Kim Ryberg. “I don’t have people sleeping in my doorway; I don’t have people accosting my customers,” she said. One man does persistently use profanity when asked to move away while panhandling, but she said he was the exception. Ryberg also cautioned against attributing any homeless persons who might frequent the shopping center to the Opportunity Center. “I don’t know that they are from the Opportunity Center. I don’t know if they’d be here if the Opportunity Center was here or not,” she said. Charne Morris, manager at How-
ie’s Artisan Pizza, said that a homeless couple dines at the restaurant about once weekly and they are always polite and quiet, she said. Ironically “we did get one report from security that someone was harassing a homeless person. It happened through the window here,” she said. Burns said that staff has largely controlled the problems. “The Community Working Group has been very proactive ... with the neighborhood to discuss issues and develop solutions. The staff is more than qualified to handle disagreements and to set fair expectations,” Burns said. On a recent September afternoon Dah demonstrated that commitment after a woman began shouting outside the drop-in center. Dah rose from his interview and within moments the disturbance was quelled. Drinking, drugs and disturbing or inappropriate behavior are not allowed at the center, and violators are asked to leave the premises, he said after returning, adding that he asks people to leave the drop-in center if he smells alcohol on someone’s
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breath. The stringent enforcement is an incentive for good behavior, he said. The center also expects apartment tenants to be drug- and alcohol-free. However, it cannot legally force people to engage in rehabilitation programs as a condition of receiving housing, some of which is subsidized but most of which rents for between $393 and $1,137 a month per room, depending on the person’s income. Some people might use drugs or alcohol in their apartments, Dah said. Staff also can’t force residents to get help for other personal problems. In the center’s adult wing, a man was sleeping on the rug in front of the community room television recently. Debra Chavez, a case manager for adults, called his name loudly, but the man did not stir. “He doesn’t want to go into his room,” Chavez said. “He is a hoarder, and his room is packed with stuff. There are three or four of them we are working with.”
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iven the issues of the homeless population, there was never a quantifiable goal of getting a certain number of people off the street with a specified period of time. But Osterberg said the Opportunity Center has been quite effective. “Many clients have benefited from the services, and the range of services is critical for the types of clients seen. It is hard to measure all the benefits that the center has accomplished, but I know many stories of clients who would not be where they are now if not for the Opportunity Center. Some individuals and families I know would not have survived if it wasn’t for the center. I also know of several people who are now productive members of society living on their own after having been supported from the Opportunity Center,” he said. John Chang, 32, said he would still be homeless if it weren’t for the Opportunity Center and the Downtown Streets Team. He became homeless in July 2008 and remained so until December 2010 after losing his job, he said. He used the dropin center services but did not live at the center. Chang found work through a temporary-employment agency and worked for Sears, Sprint and Google before a medical condition and surgery made work difficult, he said. Joining the Downtown Streets Team, Chang earned food and housing vouchers. He became the first person to receive a Section 8 voucher through the program and now lives in an apartment in Sunnyvale, he said. Chang said that while the Opportunity Center worked to get him out of the quagmire of homelessness, some programs don’t push to make people change. Chang said he thinks that while offering people housing, food and other services, each program should urge people to seek jobs or address other issues that led to their homelessness so that they will eventually unwplug from supportive assistance. He is still in Section 8 housing, but with education and a better paying job, he does not intend to use the services forever, he said. “Some people, they get housing and they want to stay their entire lives. Some programs are good — they hold people accountable. If they aren’t accountable, they rely on it. Some (programs) are a crutch. Section 8 can be housing for life,” he said. Chang has a job at a fast-food restaurant now and is working on his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at DeAnza and West Valley colleges. He wants to become a doctor, he said. “There’s a stigma about homeless people — that they’re all alcoholics or drug users. They’re not. I want to be a model, a poster child for how homeless people can be successful,” he said. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.
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