$3 million donation from group of local builders gives go ahead
for construction of year-round emergency housing
Gilroy – The last phase of an effort to provide year-round emergency housing services in Gilroy will move forward at the end of the month, thanks to a $3-million donation of labor and materials from a group of local builders.
EHC LifeBuilders, a nonprofit emergency housing consortium based in San Jose, plans to begin construction on a 25,000-square-foot transitional housing shelter in north Gilroy by the end of October. The project, a collaboration with nonprofit South County Housing, represents the last piece of the Sobrato Transitional Center now under construction at 9435 Monterey Road. While South County Housing has nearly finished its portion of the project – 60 long-term transitional apartments – EHC has just secured the in-kind donations it needs to complete its emergency shelter.
The donation formally comes through HomeAid, the nonprofit arm of the Home Builders Association of Northern California, but the local companies providing the labor and materials are Shapell Homes, Standard Pacific, and Warmington, according to EHC representatives.
Barry Del Buono, EHC’s executive director, said the $6.6-million project is the culmination of a large-scale grass-roots campaign.
“This is the outcome of a tremendous amount of work by mayors, council members, volunteers, and the homeless themselves,” he said. “Just as the face of homelessness changes over time, how we can, as a community, address those issues has changed as well. This community facility will represent all that’s good and state of the art for reaching out to those in need and providing them basic services and doing it with care and dignity.”
In addition to the Homebuilder’s donation, the project has received financial support from public and private sources. The bulk of the money – $2.5 million – came from Santa Clara County, while Morgan Hill and Gilroy contributed $100,000 and $75,000, respectively.
The single-story shelter will provide three tiers of service for up to 140 people:
• 75 shelter beds are set aside for one night “emergency” use by individual adults
• 25 beds are set aside for short-term stays of 90 days by adults
• 10 studio-sized rooms that can accommodate four-person families for up to 90 days
In addition to housing and food, EHC will provide basic health and employment referrals and other vital services.
It’s estimated that there are about 20,000 homeless countywide. No one knows for sure how many of them call Gilroy’s streets home, but on a typical winter night, all 125 beds at National Guard Armory on Wren Avenue are full, as are the beds available at Saint Joseph’s Family center and the Boccardo Family Living Center in San Martin.
The project is part of a wider push to expand emergency housing services now available just four months of the year at the Armory, according to Hilary Barroga, EHC’s director of development and communications.
“We’re trying to build permanent replacements for cold-weather shelters,” she said. “Those only have capacity for four months of the year, but homelessness doesn’t exist only when it’s cold outside.”
EHC officials hope to open the Sobrato shelter by the end of next year after which the Armory will no longer be used to house homeless. The San Martin facility, also run by EHC, will remain open to serve migrant workers and others year round.
The Sobrato Transitional Center, located at Monterey Road and Farrell Avenue, will cost a combined $22 million.
“The focus of the site down there is emergency shelter for people who are homeless because of losing a job, substance abuse, domestic violence, foreclosure,” Barroga said. “Whatever the reason is, we will help them regain the stability in their lives.”
Sobrato transitional Shelter
$6.6-million total cost
25,000-square-foot, single story building
140 beds
10-20 full-time employees, including cooks, medical staff and social workers
