A room filled with caring residents sympathetic to the plight of the homeless within Morgan Hill and throughout Santa Clara County absorbed the expertise of a diverse panel of advocates, law enforcement, city and school personnel during a Sept. 26 event hosted by the local chapter of the American Association of University Women.
The 75 or so audience members who packed the Morgan Hill Library conference room wondered what was being done to reduce the number of homeless, what support services were available for those without homes and how they can help.
After AAUW President Peggy Martin welcomed everyone in attendance and told them a little about her organization’s goals of “making a difference individually and in our community,” fellow member Margaret McCann introduced the six panelists who each answered a set of prepared questions surrounding the homeless issue prior to any additional inquiries from audience members.
The panelists were: Jan Bernstein Chargin (chair of the Compassion Center in Gilroy), Andrea Bird (lead counselor for Morgan Hill Unified School District), Rebecca Garcia (housing manager for the City of Morgan Hill), Claire Murphy (an Oakwood High senior who founded a nonprofit called “Manna”), Cecilia Ponziini (founder of Cecilia’s Closet and the Edward “Boss” Foundation) and David Swing (Police Chief of the Morgan Hill Police Department).
A county homeless count report released earlier this year revealed a 13 percent increase in homelessness across the county since 2015, with a point-in-time census of 7,394. In Morgan Hill, the number of unsheltered homeless increased 379 percent from 81 in 2015 to 388 in 2017, according to the Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey Report.
These figures, as well as real-life visuals of a growing homeless population during a regional housing crisis, prompted AAUW members to provide a forum for discussion.
Affordable housing on the horizon?
Former Morgan Hill mayor (1983-84) Beth Wyman, also a homeless advocate, spoke briefly as well, detailing how the city handled the issue of homelessness over past decades. Wyman championed a local low-income project in the 1980s that rehabilitated dilapidated homes on Sanchez Drive in Morgan Hill and then held a lottery to fill them with qualified residents. She said those same two-bedroom, one-bath units are advertised on sale at more than $500,000.
Finding new creative ways to combat homelessness and generate affordable housing is in the wheelhouse of Bernstein Chargin, who has pushed for Measure A monies to go toward a village of tiny manufactured homes (400 square feet) for the most needy of residents.
“We have to find a way to get affordable units” built in the county, said Bernstein Chargin, who explained that twice as many jobs have been created than housing units since the recession.
“As Measure A projects are proposed and you have the opportunity to oppose or support them, the best way to help is to support those projects,” she continued. “Right now people are living in their cars on the street, near creeks and in other unsanitary and unsafe areas.”
The Compassion Center, located at 370 Tomkins Court in Gilroy (right across from the Social Services building), provides case managers to homeless and pays camping fees for them so they can have access to showers and bathrooms while they are waiting for permanent residences, Bernstein Chargin shared. She also touted the City of Morgan Hill’s safe parking program (called Focus) that provides eight homeless families with safe places to park their Recreational Vehicles and supply them with some basic essentials.
“It returns human dignity to a difficult situation,” Bernstein Chargin said. “Right now, there isn’t any place someone can afford to live if they are working 30 hours on minimum wage. We need to build housing that can be affordable.”
Free transportation to schools
Bird, who heads up MHUSD’s CARE program that caters to students who are homeless, in foster care and socio-economically disadvantaged, dropped a bombshell on the attentive audience by stating there are currently 652 homeless students in local public schools. She further explained, included in that count are students whose families live in RVs; “double up” with a handful or more of family members living in one room; and “surfer” students who are on the outs with their parents and sleep on couches at friends’ homes.
Bird said the district provides these identified students with free transportation to and from school and free meals on campus, as well as counseling at LIve Oak and Sobrato high schools and Britton Middle School. The best way for the public to help, Bird replied, was to offer an extra room they may have at their home to a family in need.
“We need to open our hearts,” she said.
Garcia summarized and touted the city’s affordable housing program. She also mentioned they currently have a less than 1 percent vacancy rate. The median household income for a family of four in Santa Clara County is $113,400, she said. Affordable housing addresses varying levels of income below that median beginning at extremely low (0 to 30 percent of that average).
“Morgan Hill has done a really great job at creating affordable housing,” said Garcia, detailing that 8 percent of local developments are affordable housing at a variety of different income levels.
She reiterated the success of the safe parking program and told audience members the best way to help is to donate funds for car repair and gas cards.
Programs assist in helping homeless
Bringing some youthful resilience into the homeless issue, Murphy, a high school senior, founded “Manna” to help nourish young families, especially those headed by single mothers (63 percent of whom fall below the poverty line, she said). Murphy, along with some friends, interviewed some low-income families and found out that many must decide each month between paying rent, buying groceries or keeping current on their bills. In her conversations with homeless women, Murphy found they feel isolated and that no one cares about them.
Interactions with homeless individuals is part of the job for local police officers—specifically MHPD’s Homeless Outreach Team, according to Swing. The police chief said officers carry backpacks in their patrol cars filled with toiletries and $7 in cash that they can distribute to homeless individuals they encounter.
“It’s something that can help get people back on their feet in some way,” said Swing of the HOPE backpack program that his department is a part of. “It’s about dignity and trying to restore dignity in the lives of others.”
He explained it is not a crime to be homeless or to hang out in public spaces, but when called upon, officers treat each incident on a case by case basis.
The police department and the city, along with other local organizations such as Ponzini’s cache of humanitarian efforts, have helped get the pilot safe parking program off the ground. Ponzini has found success in many capacities with her “No Child Goes Unfed” program, which writes checks to schools so they can provide free meals to students, no questions asked. To date, 1,800 students have gotten free lunch through that program, Ponzini said. It started at Ann Sobrato High School and has spread to Live Oak High School, as well as both high schools in Gilroy.
“The community has been very, very good to us,” said Ponzini of the generosity of all kinds of donations received by her foundation over the years. She mentioned that gentle-used clothing as well as new socks and underwear remain priorities. They can delivered to 35 Peebles Avenue and information is provided online at edwardbossprado.org.
Audience members were able to ask questions to the panelists and then meet with them afterward to gain more insight. Questions surrounded issues including public health issues that are compounded with a lack of public restrooms for homeless to use and regulating the affordable housing system to weed out those taking advantage of it. Heartfelt stories were also shared as one man was trying to find housing for a schizophrenic homeless woman he befriended and another lady who helped prevent an eviction of a local needy family.
