Event Brings Needed Services to Gilroy's Homeless

Around 150 people attended the Gilroy Compassion Center’s second (PHC) event on Monday, created to provide Gilroy’s homeless with essential services under one roof.

Attendees enjoyed a massage table, a mobile-health clinic and a barbeque pit fired up outside. Cosmetology students from Gavilan College cut hair and trimmed beards for free, while other volunteers, like Jennifer Herrera, helped attendees pick out clothes from the racks.

“An event like this is actually something I’ve always wanted to do myself, so when I saw that it was going up, I thought I’d take the opportunity,” Herrera said. “I’ve volunteered at food banks before, but this is on a lot bigger scale.”

One attendee, Robert, who asked to be known by only his first name, was released from prison three months ago after an 11-year sentence, and has been homeless since. He took advantage of the offered services.

“I think this is great. I’ve gotten some clothing, shoes, food [and] went to the service tables like employment,” Robert said. “It’s very informative. I got a lot of my veterans information on where to go and what to do.”

Gilroy residents can’t afford sky rocketing rental rates, landing many of them on the streets or forcing them to live out of cars, according to the center’s chairwoman, Jan Bernstein Chargin.

Kecia Oakley, who attended the event, said she lost her full-time job as an assistant manager after Hushpuppies closed a year ago. She and her boyfriend now live in their truck, while both work part time at the Gilroy Outlets.

Although it looks like they make enough on paper, rent is too high to afford a roof over their heads, Oakely said.

“We’re not the only newly homeless out there, and it’s really sad because there are people here who’ve been homeless for years,” she said. “They haven’t had the services, and it’s something we really need to push. These guys, they needed services like last year.”

Oakley was able to take home food, a new shirt, shampoo, and sign up for housing opportunities.

Ty Mills, who used to be homeless and now lives at the Veterans Transitional Center, drove from Monterey to cook for PHC. He said that people often think being homeless is a choice, when it’s not in most cases.

“Some people are homeless because they don’t communicate well with bureaucracies. They get frustrated with having to go place-to-place to get even the simplest of services,“ Mills said. “They basically just give up and pretty soon they’re living by the river in the weeds.”

Mills said PHC is a good start toward helping the homeless break through red tape, though he had some ideas on what more could be done.

“There’s not a lot out there for the individual homeless,” he said. “There needs to be more mental health services and more individual homeless help. More events like this need to be in place.”

Monday’s event also allowed attendees to see the center’s progression toward becoming Gilroy’s first all-day homeless shelter.

“We’re hoping to be able to develop this site into a year round permanent shelter and day center,” Bernstein Chargin said. “This event lets people know that this is the site, they can see how much it’s progressed since the last time they were here, and they can get a little hope from that.”