A week of temperatures that dip into the low 20s throughout South County is an annoyance to most. It means ice on the windshield and broken pipes, but it would be hard to compare that to spending a night outside.
“Your body hurts. You can’t sleep at night. It’s a trial, but you survive,” said David Saenz, who is homeless and spent a few nights outside in freezing temperatures last year.
The number of people using the Gilroy Compassion Center – a place that allows the homeless to get off the street from 8 a.m. to noon – has remained constant, but the hours of the center were extended last week to help more people stay out of the cold, explained the center’s Program Director Daleen Pearse.
In the past, when the National Guard Armory in Gilroy – a shelter which provides people with a place to sleep from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. during winter months – released people in the morning, they had to wait two hours in the cold before they could enter the Gilroy Compassion Center.
That’s a long time to wait, especially when it is so cold outside that the parking lot puddles are frozen.
“It’s been a real concern because it is so cold that early in the morning,” said Jan Bernstein Chargin, board chair of the Gilroy Compassion Center.
In a 48-hour period between Dec. 4 and 5, four homeless people in San Jose died, causing the County of Santa Clara to send extra blankets to South Santa Clara County shelters and the Gilroy Police Department, explained Bernstein Chargin.
“We’ve been very concerned about the deaths in San Jose,” said Bernstein Chargin, who added that the Gilroy Compassion Center has been encouraging people to sleep indoors in the Armory.
The cold snap caused the Armory to extend its hours, as well – but only while the temperatures remain in the below freezing range.
The Compassion Center has only one paid employee, so the center’s ability to keep these extended hours for the whole cold season depends on the help of volunteers.
“We’ve had enough volunteers to open from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. but we need more volunteers,” said Bernstein Chargin.
The center welcomes at least 270 different people each month and gives them a sense of community while it connects them with housing and job listings, said Pearse.
“This becomes their home for four hours a day. They eat breakfast. They network,” she said.
For center clients like Martin Ramos – who owns three dogs and often sleeps in his car – the center is an incredible blessing. He often spends the night snuggled close to the dogs to keep warm and likes having a place he can go during the day.
“It’s brutally cold, so it’s a godsend,” said Ramos. “There’s no place like the Compassion Center.”
As the cold season comes in, the Gilroy Compassion Center needs closed-toed shoes, men’s pants, jackets, hoodie sweatshirts, hats and gloves to give to people who stop by the center.
Finally, they are looking for tea, coffee, packets of hot chocolate and pastries – anything that can be served as a hot breakfast to those that stop by the center to spend a few hours off the street.
Most don’t know the Gilroy Compassion Center exists, said Maria Skoczylas, a member of the board for the Gilroy Compassion Center. Skoczylas prefers to be known simply as an advocate for the homeless.
“I think people don’t even know about it,” said Skoczylas. “When they find out about it, they are so generous.”
To make a donation or volunteer, go to the center between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday or call (408) 763-7120 to make special arrangements.
To volunteer, visit the Gilroy Compassion Center at 8425 Monterey Road between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday or call (408) 763-7120.
By the numbers:
-An estimated 2,144 people will experience homelessness in Santa Clara County in 2013
-45 percent will be homeless for the first time in their lives
Causes of homelessness
43 percent: Job loss
16 percent: Illness or medical condition
13 percent: Argument with a friend/family member
13 percent: Drugs or alcohol
