Holiday Fund: At Haven Family House the homeless get back on Holiday Fund: At Haven Family House the homeless get back on (December 01, 2004)their feet -- and into homes

** Eighty percent of the graduates of Shelter Network's six programs return to stable housing.

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

When Elvia first visited Haven Family House in Menlo Park last spring, she could hardly believe it was a homeless shelter. "It feels warm and welcoming," she says, still impressed. "It just felt really safe here."

At that point, the homeless mother of three school-age boys was depressed and desperate. She had lost her county job as an infant and pre-school teacher in Sacramento due to budget cuts; at the same time she lost her home in an ugly divorce.

She spent months bedding down with relatives, calling 800 numbers, and occasionally sleeping in homeless shelters. "It was not a nice experience," she says.

Now Elvia is radiant. After four months in Haven Family House, she has a home in East Palo Alto and a job at a San Francisco day-care center. Jose, her new baby, sleeps contentedly in his stroller during Elvia's interview with an Almanac reporter. And, this very week, she will return to Sacramento to be with Jose's father; they plan to marry soon. They have a house, and she is being trained for her new job as assistant director of a pre-school center.

"This is a wonderful, wonderful place," Elvia says of Haven House. "They give you security while you look for a job and work. They teach you to save money and budget. They teach you to look for resources and use them."

In fact, Elvia's boys were so happy at Haven House that the oldest one came back with two school friends to do volunteer work on the grounds, she says proudly.

While Elvia's story is her own, it is also typical of the stories of more than 2,000 homeless men, women and children who participate every year in Shelter Network's six programs for the homeless in San Mateo County. Over 80 percent of the people who complete the program return to homes of their own, says Executive Director Michelle Jackson. Last year, 3,751 people took Shelter Network's programs, and "92 percent of our graduates returned to permanent housing," she says.

For this reason, Shelter Network has been chosen to be among those agencies that will benefit from donations to the Almanac's Holiday Fund.

Established in 1987, Shelter Network operates six programs throughout San Mateo County: Haven Family House in Menlo Park; Maple Street Shelter in Redwood City; Redwood Family House in Redwood City; First Step for Families in San Mateo; Family Crossroads in Daly City; and Bridges transitional housing units scattered around the county.

Last year, Shelter Network made major steps. After a $6.1 million capital campaign, it rebuilt and reopened First Step for Families.

In addition, two new programs took off at Haven Family House. The New Beginnings Garden, built with the aid of employees of Sunset and other donations, is already producing fresh vegetables for residents to help grow and enjoy.

In a new partnership, eight transitional units are going to women and their families who have been helped by CORA (Communities Overcoming Relationship Abuse), San Mateo County's only agency treating victims of domestic violence.

Ms. Jackson hopes the economy continues to recover, but she hasn't seen any fewer people in trouble. Shelter Network's clients tend to be the working poor, she says. "These are folks with low-paying jobs who struggle to make ends meet," she says. "So a single crisis -- like family break-up, losing child care, or even car repairs -- can cause them to fall behind in the rent.

"These people are so close to the edge."
Information

In addition to cash donations, which may be given through the Almanac's Holiday Fund, Shelter Network welcomes volunteers to help with everything from helping in the garden to sorting and distributing gifts, tutoring and helping in the child-care center. For information, contact Sara Kimberlin, development director, at 685-5880, extension 15.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.