If you could have witnessed the scene Nov. 30 at the opening
night of the National Guard Armory in Gilroy as a temporary shelter
for this winter season, you would have been amazed. As soon as
Carmen Silva and her son Manuel showed up with bags of coats and
clothing they had collected, many of the 70 or so people there to
eat soup and take shelter for the night quickly gathered around the
tables piled with clothing.
If you could have witnessed the scene Nov. 30 at the opening night of the National Guard Armory in Gilroy as a temporary shelter for this winter season, you would have been amazed. As soon as Carmen Silva and her son Manuel showed up with bags of coats and clothing they had collected, many of the 70 or so people there to eat soup and take shelter for the night quickly gathered around the tables piled with clothing.
It seemed as if jackets, scarves, dresses, and blankets were flying through the air all around me as they were snatched up by so many hands at once! A young girl with purple polish on her toenails grabbed a blanket, while her mom found a woolen neck scarf she could use to keep warm. A woman wearing glasses and blue sweats with hair pulled back in a long pony tail grabbed a dress and ran to the shower. A few minutes later, she opened the door and gestured to me to bring her something. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but as she formed the outline of a square with her fingers, I realized she wanted a towel. I brought her one and handed it to her through the door. After dressing, she emerged, freshly showered and wearing her “new” outfit, her face beaming.
The homeless in Gilroy come in all shapes, sizes, and ages: an athletic-looking blond woman with belongings slung over her shoulder in a Wilson tennis bag, a man who looks to be 7-feet-tall who just wants Oreo cookies, and an older gentleman in a shiny green jacket with yellow lettering that reads, “King of the Poison Oak – I do yard work.” Garlic Joe, as he is known, and his wife live with their three little dogs and all of their possessions in two vehicles. Joe’s battered pickup has seen better days, but the handwritten print on the side in red and blue ink still stands proud: “Yard Work N Hauling, 778-6204.”
When the South Valley Unitarians heard about the need for coats in last week’s Thanksgiving column, secretary Betty Lepper called me to say that they had some to donate. The Morgan Hill School District bus department also donated all the coats from their lost and found department.
After the donations were dropped off, I noticed one homeless woman in particular. She rolled away in her wheelchair from the coat table wearing a polka dot knitted cap snugly settled on her head, clutching a dark blue jacket in her lap, with a big smile on her face.
It’s life-saving shelter on this kind of night when the mercury was expected to dip below freezing. In anticipation, three rows of 15 thin narrow green mats had been laid out on the floor of the temporary shelter, which stays open from December to March. This is the 22nd season that the shelter has been provided by the Emergency Housing Consortium LifeBuilders, a Santa Clara County nonprofit group. Those looking for some hot soup and a place to lay their heads for the night begin staking out their spots by placing their meager possessions on the mats as soon as they are allowed in beginning at 6 p.m. They must be up and out by 6 a.m. The shelter expects to have more than 100 people in it later this season, said Linda Jones, coordinator of the soup teams for the Armory.
This past Monday, the volunteers who make soup for the Armory received an unexpected perk themselves when a health nurse from a mobile health center that parks out in front of the Armory invited them to get H1N1 shots, since they had extra available.
Teams of volunteers from every walk of life in Gilroy and Morgan Hill make at least six pots of soup per night and serve it to all those who line up between 6:30 and 7 p.m. The leftovers are eaten for breakfast the next morning.
Thanks to elementary teacher Valerie Kelly, Ascencion Solorsano Middle School honors students have volunteered to serve soup to the homeless Dec. 28. Retired city planner Bill Faus and his wife Terri are also two volunteers who regularly make and serve soup.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling it gives me,” he said. “I get a lot more out of it than I give. It feeds my soul.”
Help the homeless
The Armory needs toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, blankets, coats and towels. Details: Annette Hancock, 803-0772.
