Helping The Homeless Escape The Street PDF Print E-mail
By Maria Gaura
SANTA CRUZ (January 2009) - When Ken Cole took over the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center ten years ago, his new office was in the bedroom of a tiny, dilapidated house -- and shared with two other people. The other facilities at the center weren’t much better. The wait in line for the center’s shower could be three hours long, and meals were served out of a battered catering truck.
The city’s approach to homeless services was also in disarray. The City Council was embroiled in a circular political battle between advocates of street camping and horrified neighborhood groups, and downtown merchants were demanding that the council do something – anything -- to rein in begging on city streets.
It was a daunting welcome, especially for someone as low-key and non-combative as Cole. And as soon as he took the helm, Cole disappeared from the public eye. He didn’t dodge publicity, but he rarely sought it out. And while the political debate over camping and panhandling continued to rage, Cole quietly got a lot of things done.
As of February, Cole will be leaving the Homeless Service Center to become director of the county’s Housing Authority. What he leaves behind at the HSC’s Coral Street site is likely the best array of homeless services offered by any small city in the state.


Ken Cole shows off the new Paul Lee loft shelter for single men

“When I first arrived I learned quickly that the executive director position was politically sensitive, and that Santa Cruz was politically polarized,” Cole remembered. “I kept a low profile, and tried to build our reputation quietly, so we could get the facilities we needed, and build the institution we needed to build.”
The little house and the moldy showers are long gone, replaced by the 23,000 square-foot Rebele Family Shelter, and a new, 5,000 square-foot medical clinic. There is a commercial kitchen and indoor dining room, serving breakfast and dinner 365 days per year. An airy new hygiene center opened in August with showers, toilets and laundry facilities.
Hundreds of bus-station style lockers are available to store personal belongings, and a mail room manages general delivery for as many as 800 people. Homeless job-seekers who have no phone can request free voice-mail service, provided by the Community Action Board.
The Coral Street site also offers beds for 118 single adults and as many as 28 families at a time.
Above the hygiene center are loft-style dormitories for 46 single men and women. The Paul Lee Loft Shelter was built by Habitat for Humanity, replacing the Interfaith Satellite Shelter Program, which used to bus the homeless to sleep at a different church every night.
Nearby, the Page Smith Community House offers transitional housing, case management and private bedrooms for 40 adults who agree to stay clean and sober, and who are taking classes, participating in recovery programs, or otherwise moving toward independent living. The Page Smith site is fenced off from the rest of the complex, offering more privacy, and a tranquil atmosphere.
“The great thing about having the transitional housing next to the day shelter is that we can bring people over here and say, “this is what you can aspire to when you’re serious about getting off the street”,” Cole said. “People have to be motivated to get into (Page Smith House), and our  success rate (in moving people out of homelessness) is 85 percent.”


An outdoor patio at the Page Smith House transitional shelter

The River Street Shelter, also located at the Coral Street site, offers 32 beds and intensive management primarily for the mentally ill homeless. The River Street Shelter is operated by the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center, but it works closely with HSC, and “sometimes we trade clients,” Cole said.
During winter, the HSC parking lot is the place to board a nightly bus to the overnight shelter program at the National Guard Armory, which HSC operates. The armory offers sleeping space for 100, and is used by about 75 people per night, on average, Cole said.
Cole is proud that the HSC offers both the basic services needed to sustain life and health, and a path for the motivated to get off the street.
“We provide a path, and we try and keep the steps small, so people can take small steps up, and also maybe so they don’t fall too far down if they suffer a setback,” Cole said. “Also, as part of the physical redesign, we opened up the property so a person can literally stand in one corner and see their path, and the places they can go. And that is pretty unique.”
Cole’s satisfaction at ten years of progress is tempered by the fact that the numbers of homeless people in Santa Cruz haven't budged over the years, and that the sinking economy is certain to force cutbacks this year. He is also discouraged that the public debate over street camping and panhandling has not evolved over the past decade.
Panhandlers will work the street as long as people hand them money, but Cole would rather see that cash go toward organized service providers.
“People give money to panhandlers and then get upset that it wasn’t spent as they expected,” Cole said. “I tell people, expect to hear a story, because the panhandler wants your money, and what he has to sell is his story.” Cole advises against lecturing panhandlers about where to go for services,or a free meal. “If they’re been here for a day, they already know where to go,” he said.
As an alternative to handing cash to a panhandler, donors can visit the HSC website at http://scshelter.org/, which accepts online donations of even small amounts of money. Anyone wishing to donate food, clothing or other goods can bring them to the center daily between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. If you have a question as to whether your surplus items are needed, call the center at 458-6020, extension 2123, and ask. Anyone wishing to volunteer their time may call the same number.
“If you are interested in helping, we can find some meaningful work for you,” Cole said.
Cole says the joy of working in homeless services lies in seeing people succeed. But the job has made it impossible to enjoy a rainy day.
“When I hear that rain on the roof at night, I think of all the men and women soaking wet outside, trying to sleep under a bush,” Cole said. “That still tears me up.”


Day Services Director Sheila Bongiovanni shows a pantry filled with donated food

 
 
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