San Mateo County not losing hope in fight to help homeless
By: Beth Winegarner
Examiner Staff Writer
January 15, 2009
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| At capacity: Raiford Houston reads a book in his personal living space at Safe Harbor Homeless Shelter in South San Francisco. The shelter has operated at 100 percent capacity for the past three months. (Juan Carlos Pometta Betancourt/Special to The Examiner) |
SAN MATEO COUNTY — Raiford Houston lived 44 of his 47 years in San Francisco and thought he had a secure union job driving delivery trucks. But when the bottom began to fall out of the U.S. economy, steady work dried up — and Houston found himself moving into a homeless shelter in South San Francisco.
Before moving into Safe Harbor in December, Houston tried to hang on in San Francisco but couldn’t find work or peace of mind in the Western Addition.
“It wasn’t a place where I could sit down and concentrate,” Houston said, adding that he plans to live in the shelter only long enough to get back on his feet.
While concerns associated with homeless people garner headlines in neighboring San Francisco, San Mateo County has thousands of its own citizens living without permanent shelter. Two years ago, county officials seeking to combat the problem unveiled ambitious plans to eradicate local homelessness within 10 years.
Dubbed HOPE, for Housing our People Effectively, the plan aimed to boost housing for an estimated 4,000 to 6,500 homeless individuals through a combination of housing subsidies, construction of new units and the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing units. Increasing low-cost housing — along with access to social services — would also help an estimated 26,000 at-risk locals from becoming homeless, according to the plan.
In its first year — between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007 — the program generated 106 new units of short-term housing — less than the goal of 150. Additionally, the county produced significantly fewer units of low-income housing than the goal of 350 — only 57 units — although between 2007 and mid-2008, another 78 units were created, according to HOPE chair and San Mateo County Supervisor Mark Church.
Then the county’s unemployment rate rose from 3.9 percent in November 2007 to 5.5 percent in November 2008 — and the county found itself with a projected deficit of more than $40 million, potentially hampering its ability to fund social services.
“Unfortunately, with the downturn of the economy, I fear we will have a higher homeless count this year,” Church said, referring to a biannual census, mandated by the federal government, scheduled for Jan. 29.
“Fiscally, it’s going to be a tough year, no question. When the economy is down, funding is down and demand for services is up,” Church said.
County shelters are already seeing the signs. Safe Harbor — run by the San Mateo charity Samaritan House — has operated at 100 percent capacity for the past three months, unusual until winter hits, according to Sharon Peterson, director of program operations for Samaritan House.
Shelter Network, a nonprofit that operates shelters across the Peninsula, recently had 135 families on its waiting list for housing, up from 50 during the same period in 2007, according to Executive Director Michele Jackson.
“The level of need is great, and everyone predicts it will be worse next year,” Jackson said.
Roughly 60 percent of Shelter Network’s $7.3 million budget comes from government sources, and with the California budget process at an impasse, Jackson is worrying about the long-term security of those grants.
Proposition 1C, the state housing infrastructure bond voters approved in 2006, was intended to be a source of state and local funds for affordable housing and emergency shelter — but the state’s investment board recently indicated it will suspend all infrastructure bonds in light of the California’s fiscal woes, according to Chris Mohr, executive director of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County.
Meanwhile, the rest of Shelter Network’s cash comes from private sources — including the funds that pay to put homeless clients into permanent housing, Jackson said. She expects that money will dry up soon, too, because donations have dropped off.
Despite the dark economic times, both Mohr and Church remain focused on finding ways to house those without homes.
The California Housing Partnership — a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helps finance affordable housing — is working on ways to create economic stimulus plans related to the construction of low-income housing, according to Mohr.
The county’s 10-year plan to house everybody is still possible, according to Church.
“We’re going to look at a variety of approaches, from financing to developing new revenue streams, while cutting expenses,” Church said.
Homeless first-timers seek ‘harbor’ to get back on feet
After a lifetime of steady work and 10 years living in Burlingame, Stanley Pouponneau never thought he’d be homeless.
Pouponneau, 41, came to California from New Jersey in 1995 when a job opened up for him as an airplane mechanic at San Francisco International Airport. He worked repairing planes at SFO for 10 years before he was “unfairly terminated” in 2005 — a case he’s still fighting.
However, jobs for mechanics have dwindled — as has construction work, his fallback. After jobs evaporated, so did Pouponneau’s rent money. He lost his Burlingame apartment and moved four months ago to Safe Harbor, a homeless shelter located on a remote road behind the airport where Pouponneau used to clock in every day.
“Nobody wants to be here,” Pouponneau said. “But it helps you get back on your feet. I hope I never have to come back here.”
Safe Harbor has 60 beds residents can use for up to six months while they look for work and permanent homes, plus another 30 emergency beds for 30-day stays, according to Maryam Bhimji, who oversees the shelter.
Its beds have been full every day for three months, and many at Safe Harbor have stories like Pouponneau’s — when work evaporated, they found themselves homeless for the first time.
In 2007, a survey of the county’s homeless people revealed that nearly 60 percent had become homeless within the year.
Ramon De Alva, 56, made his living as a truck driver and photographer before falling on hard times. Even selling off all of his professional cameras and equipment — originally worth $30,000 — wasn’t enough to stay afloat.
Safe Harbor gave De Alva the stability to find a new job; he starts a full-time security-guard post in February.
— Beth Winegarner
New census of homeless may be bleak
Before dawn on Jan. 29, volunteers will comb San Mateo County streets looking for homeless people in order to update data that shines a light on how many residents live on the streets, in cars and in shelters.
The last count, in January 2007, found 2,064 homeless and estimated that 6,646 homeless people lived in the county for some or all of the year.
Sixty-six percent reported that they were living in San Mateo when they became homeless. Those figures are similar to San Francisco’s, where 62 percent of homeless were city residents before losing their homes, according to the county’s 2007 census.
Among San Mateo’s homeless, 73 percent had been residents for three years or more, and 52 percent had lived on the Peninsula for more than 10 years, according to the 2007 Homeless Census and Survey.
Local experts are already predicting that the 2009 census will not only find more homeless, but more nonlocals without housing.
“This is the first time we’ve had calls from out of state,” said Michele Jackson, executive director of Shelter Network, which operates shelters across the county. The program has already seen its waiting list for shelter beds nearly triple between late 2007 and late 2008.
Census-takers will also likely find another shift toward more first-timers. In 2007, 41 percent had been homeless for a year or more; 30 percent had been homeless four times in the prior three years.
“We’re seeing more people who are homeless for the first time,” said Sharon Peterson, director of program operations at Samaritan House. “People have hit an economic downslide and don’t have any reserves.”
— Beth Winegarner
Unemployment rates rise
During the past year, unemployment rates have spiked both in San Mateo County and statewide, contributing to an influx of newly homeless in Peninsula shelters.
SMC unemployment rate
November 2007: 3.9 percent
November 2008: 5.5 percent
California unemployment rate
November 2007: 5.7 percent
November 2007: 8.4 percent
Source: California Employment Development Department
Homeless census facts and figures
Results of San Mateo's one-day January 2007 homeless count.
2,064 homeless
1,094 unsheltered homeless
970 sheltered homeless (in shelters, transitional housing, motel-voucher programs, residential treatment, jails and hospitals)
80 percent unemployed
10 percent in full-time jobs
10 percent in part-time jobs
68 percent have children under 18 living with them
66 percent living in San Mateo County when they became homeless
41 percent homeless for one year or longer
39 percent attended some college
25 percent have an associate's or bachelor's degree
66 percent male
34 percent female
27 percent veterans
6,646 people in San Mateo County estimated to be homeless sometime within the year
Source: San Mateo County Center on Homelessness
