With the frigid temperature in Gilroy at 5 a.m. Tuesday hitting 28 degrees, donations are always appreciated by folks who don’t have a permanent place of residence to call home.
The National Guard’s homeless program at the Armory on 8490 Wren Avenue offers a hot meal, shower facilities and sleeping quarters for homeless individuals and families, but is only open from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. beginning the day after Thanksgiving through March 31.
Occupants of the Armory are awakened at 5 a.m. to get ready to leave each day.
The Armory’s current list of donation needs include socks, underwear, towels, blankets and especially hygiene kits.
Emergency Housing Consortium LifeBuilders directs the Armory program and is a leading provider of shelter, housing opportunities, and supportive services to people in crisis and those experiencing homelessness in Silicon Valley. EHC has thrived since 1980 with a vision of creating a society without homelessness.
EHC Lifebuilder Coordinator Mary Zavala is surprised there haven’t been more individuals and families coming to the Armory in Gilroy since the temperatures have regularly fallen below freezing lately.
“Our biggest needs right now are socks and hygiene products of all kinds,” she stressed. “We have one or two families, and 90 to 100 individuals per night. Our maximum allowed is 100, but we were given permission to raise that number for one of the coldest days to 125 – and we stayed open later, until 8 a.m., but just for that day. I don’t remember which day it was, but it was really cold.”
Zavala is grateful for Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, as it eases the workload for the EHC Lifebuilders by regularly doing the Armory’s laundry.
“Our sheets are taken to Elmwood to be washed and dried and then they are returned to us each day,” Zavala explained.
Zavala speculated that one possible reason for the lower number of families and individuals coming to the Armory might be the availability of other homeless programs in the area.
One such program is the Gilroy Compassion Center at 8425 Monterey Road. A a grassroots outreach organization offering food, clothes, shelter and support services, the center has grown considerably in the past year having served more than 2,000 individuals since December 2011.
Fortunately for those in need, a break in this cold snap begins today with a warming trend. By Friday, Gilroy’s high temperature will hover around 69 degrees and remain in that range throughout the weekend.
