Hope
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The biggest financial supporter of the shelter is San Mateo County, followed by the City of East Palo Alto and various community foundations. The Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund — which raises funds to support charities aiding kids, families and individuals — contributed $7,500 this past year. In addition to the shelter, Project WeHOPE facilitates the Chaplaincy Program, which provides support to local law-enforcement officials and crime victims, the Lord’s Gym Community Center, and the Technology Access Point Center, which provides computer access for residents and the greater community. East Palo Alto represents a disproportionate share of the county’s homeless population, according to the San Mateo County Human Services Agency, which conducts a semiannual homeless census and survey. A count on the night of Jan. 26, 2011, revealed East Palo Alto had 46 sheltered and 385 unsheltered homeless people. While East Palo Alto represents less than 5 percent of the total population of San Mateo County, the city makes up 33 percent of the county’s unsheltered homeless. Project WeHOPE clients check in between 8:30 and 10 p.m. each night, after which they receive a warm meal and a cot to sleep on. The next morning, they are served breakfast before being sent off by 8 a.m.
During the day, case manager Heliena Walton helps residents take steps toward gaining permanent housing. She sees a variety of cases, from those who have been habitually homeless for many years to those who have college degrees. Walton is there to lend an ear: “We talk to them. We ask them ‘What steps do they want to take? Where do they see themselves? Where do they want to be?’” According to the 2011 survey, 63 percent of the sheltered homeless
‘God has been good. It’s been hard. We’ve been struggling on and off for two years.’ —Felicia Clay-Freese, client, Project WeHOPE were male and 21 percent were in families with children as opposed to only 3 percent of the unsheltered population. Sheltered adults had levels of disability lower than the unsheltered population with 15 percent reporting mental illness, 12 percent chronic substance abuse, 7 percent chronic health conditions, and 3 percent physical disabilities. Walton helps individuals with mental and medical needs assess their eligibility for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance. She refers her clients to partner organizations
such as Ravenswood Health Clinic, which provides clinical care to uninsured patients, and El Concilio, a nonprofit that supports job development, training and placement for people who speak Spanish. Walton is currently working with residents such as Joji Freese, Felicia ClayFreese’s husband, to apply for housing through the Veterans Affairs (VA) Supportive Housing Program. Freese and his wife are waiting to get approved for a housing voucher. “God has been good. It’s been hard. We’ve been struggling on and off for two years,” Clay-Freese said. Volunteer Joshua Gonzalez can empathize. “I experienced a level of homelessness in my late teens, early 20s. Going from my experience, I want to try to help other people because being homeless sucked for me,” he said. As a member of Paul Bain’s church, Gonzalez was drawn to the pastor’s vision. Since June, Gonzalez has been lending his technical expertise building the nonprofit’s website, fixing computers, monitoring the computer network, and all other technical handiwork. Paul Bains “has invested so much of himself into the people. He wants to change and enrich the community by having everyone pull together,” Gonzalez said. “And I think he’s a good-hearted person, and that’s why I believe in what he’s doing.” Bains has ambitious plans for the homeless shelter. He wants to see the shelter operate year-round and hopes to renovate the facilities to
Veronica Weber
Upfront
A client settles into his bed at the warming shelter run by Project WeHOPE in East Palo Alto on Nov. 29. bring in showers, a kitchenette and meeting rooms. The ultimate mission, however, is to put the homeless shelter out of business. Project WeHOPE’s goal, stated on its website, is to end homelessness in East Palo Alto by 2022. Bains acknowledges that it requires working in tandem with the federal and county government. “Homelessness is not going to be resolved by any one entity. Even though (East Palo Alto) is 2.2 square miles, we’re going to need supportive and subsidized housing to put some of these homeless people in, so that they can get the necessary care, and we can support the federal
government’s new model.” His zeal doesn’t stop there. “Once we end homelessness, we’re going to tackle the problem of emancipated youth because many of them, once they come out of the foster system at 18, are couch surfing and end up homeless,” he said. “We want to take our shelter and turn it into a facility to help emancipated youth.” N The Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund is in the midst of its 2012 fundraising campaign. A donation form and more information are available on page 18. Editorial Intern Haiy Le can be emailed at hle@paweekly.com.
Announcing the Embarcadero Media
Gap-Year Media Internship Thinking about taking a gap-year before starting college? The Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online invite graduating high school seniors to apply for a unique one-year paid internship between mid-June, 2013 and July, 2014. Working as an assistant to the publisher, you will learn about all aspects of print and digital publishing and be assigned a wide variety of tasks and projects, ranging from routine administrative support to helping with events and promotions, creating web content, assisting with social media, research and reporting projects, and learning about sales & marketing. For more information, go to PaloAltoOnline.com/gapyear
Deadline: February 1, 2013
(We also offer limited unpaid summer internships for high school seniors.)
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