When you think of a homeless person, many people think of the ones on the freeway exits with the dirty beard and a coin jar. While some homeless people are like that, most are just trying to be invisible. They are the people that are sleeping in their cars at night or the ones that are up at the crack of dawn so that they don’t have to talk to anyone. Sadly, many of the homeless are kids.
Behind a gas station on a street in Vista, Operation Hope Vista resides as a non-profit homeless shelter for single women and families. It has recently opened its doors to residents year-round.
“Primarily we are bridge housing shelter, so we want to bring people in who are homeless, stabilize their income and stabilize their housing plan so they can move out as be self sufficient,” says Beth Brainerd Hallock, Director of Community Engagement.
The program started in 2003 in a rented facility. It began as a winter shelter which meant that they would only be open in the months of December through March. Since then, they have grown to a larger facility and on August 1, they officially opened year-round.
According to Hallock, the average age of a homeless person is about 9-years-old. “When we’re full it’s mostly kids. Typically we have 23 to 27 of our beds taken up by kids” Hallock said.
The shelter currently has 115 names of people just waiting to get one of their 45 beds at the shelter. About 80 percent of those are names of families with two or more kids. The shelter is not fully staffed at the moment, so they are currently housing roughly 22 individuals. For those 22, the screening process was a difficult one.
“They have to do a pre screening form, then the intake coordinator calls them and goes over the form with them, then they are on the waiting list” Hallock remarked.
And that is just to get on the waiting list. After, they proceed to the shelter’s office to take a health assessment and a mental health assessment. Tests such as drug tests are taken.
“Once they arrive, they get their rooms which is their biggest thing for the clients, but they meet with their case manager and their case manager sets a plan, a treatment plan for them” Hallock said.
The clients spend about two months at the shelter discussing with their case manager to find a stable income and housing outside of the shelter.
“Most of our clients are successful so that’s a good thing, but it takes a lot of effort to get them to that point where they can be successful. But definitely the clients are successful” Hallock responded.
Although the shelter is not fully staffed, they are open to all volunteers who are willing to help. Volunteers can do anything from providing nightly meals to volunteering to work the front desk or playing with the kids. Schools in the area often do donation drives to collect supplies and clothes.
Hallock expressed this about the experience, “You get to be part of something that changes lives. Which is very rewarding, it’s a great job.”