The 18 men and women and two young children began arriving at St. Phillip the Apostle Episcopal Church in Scotts Valley about 5:30 p.m.
They came by car and by METRO bus. They brought their belongings in backpacks and large green trash bags, which they piled in one corner. Some grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at tables in the dining area, chatting with others as they arrived. Some kept on their heavy coats. Some stayed aloof from the others, looking quietly at the Christmas decorations in the lobby of the Scotts Valley Drive church.
St. Phillip’s would be their home for the night. It was warm and dry and friendly, and the decorations added a little extra warmth this time of year. Here they would get a hot, nutritious meal cooked this night by Monica and Erik Hedstrom of Community Covenant Church, along with some fellowship. Tomorrow, there would be breakfast in the morning and another church in another part of the county at night. That would be repeated at 10 locations, then the cycle would begin again at the Faith Community Shelters created four years ago by the Association of Faith Communities.
The participants in this program are of different ages and backgrounds, and other than this shifting routine, they have one thing in common: they are homeless.
They are the lucky ones. County officials have estimated that on any given night, more than 2,000 men, women and children have no shelter, despite the efforts of a dozen different private social agencies.
The group at the Faith Community Shelters also has Al Anthony, who greets them with a smile at each location.
As a combination manager and guardian angel, he reminds them of the specific rules of each location and handles the delivery of the large foam mattresses to each site.
At St. Phillip’s last Saturday, Dec. 17, for example, he told folks they wouldn’t be able to lay out their bedding the following Saturday until after the close of the 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service.
Al is with them every night, all night, seven days a week, 365 days a year. He has had the job since October 2012, joining a few months after it started, and he figures he has had one day off since then.
These rotating homeless shelters are Al’s home, too.
When the amiable vet was asked what he had done before this job, he replied matter-of-factly, “I slept in the back doorway of Bookshop Santa Cruz for five-and-a-half years.”
The shelter and food provided to these 18 people every night by 10 churches and community organizations – 10 for lodging and another 25 for food – are part of a growing effort to care for the estimate 3,500 homeless people in the county.
Just this winter, the Association of Faith Communities opened two “winter shelters,” in Santa Cruz, offering drop-in emergency shelter for 100 people at the VFW Hall on 7th Street and the Salvation Army on Laurel Street.
The Faith Community Shelters require verifiable IDs, background checks and a commitment to a plan to move to permanent shelter. Most stay about six months, said program director Debbie Bates.
Bates, a retired probation officer, said she works part-time managing both the transitional shelters and the new winter shelter program.
“It’s a God thing,” she said with a smile.
She said the current wait list for the Faith Community Shelters is up to two-and-a-half months.
