Santa Cruz Faith Communities Come Together to Shelter the Homeless

In previous articles, we have talked about the lack of housing in Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz County and the pressing need for shelter to provide safe, restful overnight spaces for our 3,500 people experiencing homelessness. While the civic, business and governmental response has been slow in coming, local faith communities are stepping up to meet the challenge.

The Association of Faith Communities of Santa Cruz County established the Faith Community Shelters Program (FCS) in the winter of 2012. The AFC Board of Directors that includes representatives from Calvary Episcopal Church, Trinity Presbyterian Church, The Circle Church, Peace United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church provides space and administration. The shelter program currently operates seven (7) nights per week and shelters between twenty (20) and twenty-three (23) people each night of the week. The churches provide an evening meal as part of an ongoing community meal or as a special meal for the overnight guests. A take-out breakfast is offered in the morning.

But in addition to providing overnight shelter, the underlying mission of the FCS is to form “communities” of people experiencing homelessness within the program itself. Father Joel Miller, Pastor of Calvary Episcopal Church and one of the founding members of FCS, explains it this way. “One of the great teachings of faith is the value of ‘gathering together’. In our shelters, we want to create an atmosphere of coming together for the common good and for the support of the entire group.”

And while safe shelter is a cornerstone of the program, the evening meal served each night provides more than just food. It is an opportunity to create an even broader community of faith and hope. Mel Nunes, one of the three Coordinators for the program, believes that a nurturing and supportive community can also open the door for participation by the community at large which is so essential to the growth and sustainability of the program. He says, “[M] embers of the community have been incredibly generous in bringing and serving food for our evening meals. But our hope is that people who live in the neighborhoods surrounding each nightly shelter will feel comfortable enough to come by and ‘take a meal’ with our community; actually take the time to sit and talk to the people in our shelter program about the challenges of homelessness. But this is not a one-way conversation. Just as important are the thoughts, feelings and perspectives of the neighbors themselves. In this way, we can create the broader community that is the foundation of understanding”.

The community of people within the program is, if you will excuse the theological reference, truly a “coat of many colors”. The groups include senior women, mid-aged workingmen, an African American family of four and a Hispanic family of six. Each plays their part in the preparation of the meals, the maintenance of each parish hall and the multitude of day-to-day chores that make up the life of the shelter residents. And what of their voices and thoughts? Jeanie, a senior single woman says, “[I] am no longer afraid for my own safety nor hesitant to commit myself to the family of people within the shelter. And I am far less uncomfortable walking through the neighborhoods of each shelter. Maybe our community can make a difference simply by our being here and becoming a part of this.” Clive, who has been a participant in the program from the beginning, explains it like this. “It’s not a perfect community but show me one that is. We are part of an organic process and every day brings its challenges. But I know that we can be a working and successful model that other shelters can follow.”

And this reflects the goal of the Faith Community Shelters as it moves into the future. It is hoped that this community-based model can inspire other faith-based organizations to participate and create additional seven-night shelter programs. Ten of these programs could shelter, feed and support as many as 200 currently unsheltered residents in Santa Cruz County; 20 could shelter as many as 400. Still a long way from the dream of providing shelter for all those who want and need it in our community, but a significant step in that direction. Pastor Steve Defields-Gambrel of the Circle Church which hosts two nightly shelters says it best:

“The people in our shelter program are receiving from us the gift of support and community. But they are also giving us the gift of hope; hope that want and need can be transformed into joy and generosity. And the hope, perhaps the prayer, that this gathering can truly bring us all together as a community”.