Holiday Fund: Clara-Mateo helps homeless rebuild lives Holiday Fund: Clara-Mateo helps homeless rebuild lives (December 10, 2003)

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

When Jose got out of county jail, it was 3:30 in the morning. He had lost his apartment and his car; he had only the clothes he was wearing.

Five hours later, Jose had talked himself into a 90-day program at the Clara-Mateo Alliance homeless shelter at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Menlo Park.

After six weeks, Jose appears clean-cut, neatly dressed, and upbeat about his future. He's half way through Project Hope, a program for recovering alcohol and narcotics users, and is hopeful about an upcoming job interview. "Clara-Mateo has been so wonderful to me," says the 33-year-old Menlo Park native.

Adopted as a baby, Jose grew up in the Willows with a family that recently moved to Bakersfield. He attended Willow School, Sequoia High School, and Canada College, before dropping out, and getting involved with bad company and the law.

Clara-Mateo and Project Hope have helped Jose turn from negativity to self-respect and a positive attitude. "I used to feel hopeless; I used to feel useless," he says. "Now I feel hopeful and useful."

Many of the 129 residents at the Clara-Mateo shelter have much in common with Jose, says community relations director Eve Agiewich. They are not somehow different from the rest of us; they are local people who through some mishap have lost their housing, she says.

Sine 1997, the Clara Mateo Alliance has provided shelter and an array of services for the homeless from San Mateo and northern Santa Clara counties. Last year, it housed almost 800 people -- both veterans and non-veterans. Almost 60 percent went on to better housing, Ms. Agiewich says.

In 30,000 square feet of buildings on the spacious campus of the veterans hospital, Clara-Mateo offers four shelter programs and the Elsa Segovia Center drop-in center for women and children who are homeless or near homeless.

There are two 90-day shelter programs: a shelter for 63 homeless singles and couples, and a wing with rooms for six families. In addition, two other programs provide transitional housing -- up to two years for 30 adult individuals and couples, and up to six months for six families.

Clients of Clara-Mateo sign up for a rigorous program to reorganize their lives. "They pay rent, up to 30 percent of their income," says Ms. Agiewich. "Many of our residents are employed, but the jobs are so low-paying, they can't afford housing."

The halls at the Elsa Segovia Center have cheerful murals to greet the 20 to 40 women who drop in each day for a shower, laundry, and a range of social services. These include the May View Health Clinic, a dental van on Saturdays, and a parent-participation nursery school run by Family Connections.

Individual donations from sources like the Almanac's Holiday Fund are increasingly important at a time when government and foundation money is tightening. Clara-Mateo gets 70 percent of its operating funds from government -- including two counties and several local cities -- and 20 percent from foundations.
INFORMATION

For information, call Eve Agiewich at 853-7073; or go to www.clara-mateo.org.

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