Linda Bird moved to Gilroy 25 years ago and has been homeless
ever since.
”
I’ve slept under every bridge there is in this town,
”
Bird said.
”
And every park, and every tree.
”
Linda Bird moved to Gilroy 25 years ago and has been homeless ever since.
“I’ve slept under every bridge there is in this town,” Bird said. “And every park, and every tree.”
Her hair pulled back into an unruly ponytail, the 51-year-old mother of three and grandmother of one fingered the two keys dangling from a lanyard around her neck as she told her story at St. Joseph’s Family Center one afternoon. House key and bike key symbolize shelter and transportation, two luxuries she learned to live without during her decades spent on the street. Bathing in gas station restrooms and panhandling for change became a way of life, she said.
All that changed about a year ago. Bird is now one of 11 South County residents who have benefited from St. Joseph’s Supportive Housing Program, which provides chronically homeless individuals with permanent housing, nutritious food and other basic necessities. She traded a life of alcohol abuse and heroin addiction for a stable support system, good friends she’s met through the program and a cozy, two-bedroom apartment just north of downtown Morgan Hill.
“I love this program and I love these guys that run this place,” Bird said. “I can’t believe they put up with me.”
The program’s participants have seen “unbelievable success,” Executive Director David Cox said.
“We’ve seen folks come into the program that look like they’re on death’s door,” Cox said. “You put a roof over their heads, get them patched into healthcare, educate them about nutrition – they’re physically better, spiritually better, mentally better. The physical changes alone are outstanding.”
The program is funded by a $300,000 Department of Housing and Urban Development grant – which was also renewed this year – and $60,000 from St. Joseph’s.
HUD defines a “chronically homeless person” as someone who is single, has a disabling condition – such as a substance abuse disorder or a physical, mental or emotional impairment – and has either been continuously homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years. Of the 11 program participants, one chose to leave, one was placed in a psychiatric hospital and one was able to secure low-income housing.
“Not bad for the program’s first year,” Cox said.
Michael J. said he has seen the effects of being chronically homeless. For a while, his bed was a cardboard mat outside a liquor store.
“I was a mess,” the 53-year-old said, closing his blue eyes as he spoke, his flowing reddish-brown hair tucked beneath a worn Red Sox cap.
These days, he’s enrolled in several classes at Gavilan College. In his spare time, he entertains his neighbors with acoustic guitar. Bluesy notes can often be heard outside his studio apartment on First Street.
The first phase of the program is the most expensive, as the program participants’ needs are at the “high water mark,” Cox said. But as they secure jobs and are able to start contributing more toward their rent, transportation and food costs, St. Joseph’s will be able to expand the program and reach out to more homeless individuals. In the first six months, hardly anyone was able to contribute financially, but now the majority are able to pitch in something, Cox said. That money goes right back into the program.
Since 2007, Gilroy has seen a 24-percent increase in homelessness and Morgan Hill a 509-percent increase, according to the 2009 Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey. Meanwhile, towns like Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale have experienced declines in homelessness, the survey shows.
Though the numbers aren’t a perfect count, as Cox pointed out, Gilroy still has the highest number of homeless people per capita – 292 out of a population of about 52,000.
For a while, Oscar Flores was one of those people. Flores, 53, was married 33 years with a good job and two sons before a bitter divorce sent his life spiraling out of control.
“I had everything,” he said. “Then I became a man my kids looked at and said, ‘Dad, I don’t know you anymore.’ When I fell, I was beating myself up so much. I didn’t have the will to live anymore.”
A deep depression led to alcohol abuse, which led to a crystal meth addiction.
“I wanted to numb myself,” Flores said.
With the help of St. Joseph’s, Flores has turned his life around. Like Bird, he has an apartment in Morgan Hill – the two are neighbors and friends – that his two sons and four grandchildren visit regularly.
“My family is my strength,” Flores said. “I need them in my life. They make me who I am.”
Flores is a member of the Downtown Streets Team, a group of residents that work to beautify Gilroy. He also plans to hold Bible study out of his apartment and is working toward his seminary degree at Victory Outreach, a ministry aimed at rehabilitating gang members and drug addicts. Flores also met his girlfriend at Victory Outreach.
Without the basics so many people take for granted, Flores wouldn’t have survived, he said.
“I am so grateful to St. Joseph’s,” he said. “They’ve been there for me in my hard times. Now I have the potential to do something more. I am a blessed man.”
