Publication Date: Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Guest Opinion: Dirt flies as officials witness a dream becoming a reality
Guest Opinion: Dirt flies as officials witness a dream becoming a reality
(May 05, 2004) by Mary Burt Blume
The breaking of ground may not be the same as the communal breaking of bread, but today it came close in Palo Alto.
Local, state and county leaders -- and scores of those who helped make it happen -- broke ground for the Opportunity Center, an innovative project built on six years of hope, caring, effort and vision.
The occasion has a special meaning for many who have worked to make this day occur. My involvement stems from the earliest days in 1997-98 when at All Saints Episcopal Church (where I have been a member since 1973) we resolved to tackle the homeless situation and find a solution. We joined forces with First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto and Peninsula Interfaith Action, where the leadership of David Mann gave us the organizing tools to bring this project to fruition.
The groundbreaking celebrates the physical beginnings of a facility -- on Encina Avenue between El Camino Real and the Caltrain tracks -- that will provide multiple services and housing for the homeless, thanks to the support of many private individuals and foundations as well as county, state and federal support.
Early in 1998, the Community Working Group, under the leadership of Stanford Professor Donald Barr, M.D., was formed in response to the El Nino rains that temporarily flooded the existing Palo Alto Drop-In Center behind the Red Cross building near the train station.
The need for a permanent structure to aid the extremely poor in our community could no longer be ignored. The working group included individuals representing Stanford University, the Palo Alto Human Relations Commission, the Urban Ministry, the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and Peninsula Interfaith Action, among others.
Grass-roots support for the project began with a prayer. First Presbyterian and All Saints' were joined by a coalition of 18 Midpeninsula parishes. The two founding churches hosted a community meeting in May 1998, where more than 250 people agreed to work toward creating a center to serve the homeless.
The working group was asked to select a site and find funds -- nearly $24 million. Along the way, the sense of purpose and support had to be maintained to gather other members of the community into the effort. Architect Rob Quigley stepped forward to create an outstanding design.
Larry Brown, working group board member and chair of the capital campaign, calls the result "not just functional architecture -- it's architecture with a large 'A.' It's being built by a world-class architect, Rob Quigley, and will be a landmark and legacy for this community."
The effort got a major boost in March 2003 when representatives of Palo Alto High School PTA, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the city's Planning and Transportation Commission and Architectural Review Board stepped forward to support the building of the Opportunity Center at the Encina site. The City Council unanimously approved the project.
The total cost includes endowments to subsidize rents and for building maintainance . The Packard Foundation gave a $1 million seed-money grant; federal and state grants provide $15 million; and a community capital campaign, now in its home stretch, has a goal of $8 million -- with more than $7 million already raised.
The center will offer housing and a comprehensive array of services, under the overall direction of InnVision/Urban Ministry. Two separate service centers on the ground floor will serve singles and women with children. There will be 89 units of permanent and transitional housing for the very poor on the four floors above.
The singles-services center will be open to everyone, with drop-in services, showers, laundry facilities, lockers, light snacks, information-and-referral, transportation assistance, a "clothes closet," an inter-faith chaplaincy -- and fellowship. Rehabilitative services, such as case management, substance-abuse referral and computer instruction, will be available to those seeking to stabilize their lives.
The women and children's services center will be located in a separate wing of the first floor, with its own entrance. The Clara Mateo Alliance presently offers these services at the Veterans Administration hospital in Menlo Park, and will move to the Opportunity Center. Services will include a library, light meals, a food closet, a clothes closet, hygiene supplies, information-and-referral, vouchers for motels and transportation, health care services, case management, child care and assistance in finding housing.
There are an estimated 600-plus homeless individuals and families in the Midpeninsula area. More than 150 persons are being served by InnVision/Urban Ministry at its outdoor drop-in center in Palo Alto and more than 50 women and children are served by Clara Mateo Alliance in Menlo Park.
The new center will also assist those at-risk of becoming displaced because of family emergencies or loss of jobs.
The remarkable overflow of community support for this Opportunity Center is in sharp contrast to 20 years ago, when a pioneer in this effort, the Rev. Jim Burklo, former director of the Urban Ministry (now merged with InnVision, based in San Jose), attempted a far more modest project.
"When I was with Urban Ministry of Palo Alto, in the '80s, we tried for many years to find an indoor drop-in center. Not for love nor money -- and there was no lack of either -- could we find anyone to rent to us.
"This effort has been blessed and it's so wonderful to see it finally happen."
His words resonate in our hearts today.
Mary Burt Blume is a semi-retired journalist and writer whose career began with the New York Times. She has written for the Peninsula Times Tribune, the Mercury News, the Weekly and the Country Almanac. She has three daughters who grew up in Palo Alto, and she can be e-mailed at mbbc1@juno.com.
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