DP AUTUMN 2020 - Dorothy's Place

It’s already November, and it seems that COVID-19 has changed our lives in ways that we still don't comprehend. We all seek the “new Normal." Many struggle with that. And all of us struggle with being restricted from doing the activities we were accustomed to in the “old Normal". In this newsletter, we have three articles that speak to “new" versus “old". We hope they inspire you.

But first, we need to thank all of you, sincerely, for the very generous and much needed financial and volunteer support we enjoyed during 2020, and for all the emergency funding that we've received to keep us serving as essential workers during this health crisis. We all go through challenges and triumphs, and we do it together! Despite COVID, with your help we've assisted 18 more people into permanent housing in the last six months. You made housing happen with the investment of your time and financial support!

Maria's Story – a Life Spared from the Streets

While much of our attention is rightly focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, we think it’s important to keep in mind that our continuing goal here at Dorothy’s Place is to get our homeless population off the streets permanently.

As we’ve communicated before, permanent affordable housing of the homeless is something that everybody agrees with and supports. But actually getting it funded and getting folks off the street is another matter. It’s often a colossal struggle for a variety of reasons.

Maria's life story is particularly poignant (see page _) and starts on a farm in Mexico, where she was loved and secure. At age 20, she took a job across the US border as a maid, and since then, her life took a circuitous path, including her making stops in Laredo, TX (where she was homeless for the first time), Long Beach, CA, Chicago, IL, San Francisco (where she had a 2 decades-long career stop as a hospital laundry manager until the staggering costs of living in San Francisco forced a move), and San Jose, where she again had no family, and no resources.

So, in 2013, at 87, she gathered her things, got on a Greyhound bus, and came to Salinas.

Maria recalls that her first couple weeks in Salinas were rough. She slept on the pavement. One day, however, she was approached by a Mexican couple, who informed her she should go to “Dorotea’s” at Chinatown and there, they told her she would be able to bathe and eat. One of the services Maria connected to while in Chinatown was the Women Alive Emergency Shelter. When Women Alive closed, she went into housing transition in our House of Peace. While Maria says her transition from Dorothy’s to her new apartment at Moon Gate Plaza wasn’t easy, she says she is grateful for all the help she received to increase the quality of life she now enjoys. Now when asked, “Are you content?", Maria replies, “Si lo estoy. Gracias a Dios, si lo estoy.” (Yes, I am. Thanks to God, I am.) 

Dorothy's Place Has Been Open Everyday During COVID-19: Our COVID-19 Operations Plan

From the Executive Director to the Dorothy's Place Team, March 18, 2020: “During the current health emergency caused by the spread of the COVID-19, Dorothy’s Place will continue to provide services, as usual, for our guests and clients. Service to others in need has always been our mission, often serving in ways that no other agency would, or could. Our uniqueness has always been supported by the greater community, especially by those that value service above self.

“There are no plans for disruption or cancellation of any of our existing services. That said, we expect that most of our volunteers will opt to take a break, and we expect that we will see a greater need for basic services. We expect that many of our staff will become ill, and will not be coming to work for a while. We expect team members that are age 65 and greater will not be coming in to work until COVID-19 has passed, although those that can will work from home.

“You are part of a radically brave and humble tradition of service to victims of chronic homelessness. I hope you’re as proud of that as I am of you. We will outline in this document our plan to preserve the safety and health of both our employees and our clients.

COVID

“These now become “company policies” and must be adhered to, even if it means altering or curtailing some of our activities until after the crisis passes, due to lack of staffing and other resources. Together in body or in spirit, we will surmount this, like we’ve surmounted so many other obstacles in the past. Thank you for being a servant to others.”

The Dorothy’s Place Team, staff and volunteers, are following guidance and recommendations from the Monterey County Health Department

. Frequent hand washing is mandatory for staff and gloves will be worn for food prep and serving. Wash hands every time gloves are changed.

Cloth face coverings are required for all Team members at all times. All Dorothy’s Place staff are required to use cloth face coverings instead of disposable masks so that the disposable masks can be reserved for consumers.

Meals will continue to be well-prepared and nutritious, but we anticipate that we may need to serve a greater demand and that we will need to serve at the door (since the dining room is not conducive to social distancing) which means that meals must be prepared in a way that is portable. This requires packaging resources that we don’t normally use.

We anticipate that we will have far fewer staff, so menus will be simpler, yet equal in nutrition and attractive taste to our traditional meals.

Dorothy’s Kitchen Team members will be checked for COVID symptoms by the lead coordinator as they report for work at the beginning of each shift. DP Team members that feel ill, become symptomatic of COVID-19, or fear their safety during the health crisis will immediately inform the Program Director, who will relieve them of duty. Employees will be able to use either sick days or vacation days to maintain their wages. They may return to work with a release from their doctor (if they were tested and treated) or when any fever or respiratory difficulties have passed.

Social distancing requirements of six feet between work stations, between clients, and between client and staff will be observed at all times.

Hand washing is mandatory for clients. Clients will be required to wash their hands upon entering the Drop-In Center and when picking up meals at the Kitchen. Supplies will be provided, as available, for washing and sanitizing hands. Handwashing sinks are installed outside both the Kitchen and the DropIn Center and are available 24/7 to consumers.

Checklists will be maintained in public view posting the scheduling of Team member hand washing and surface sanitizing and the Team member accomplishing these tasks will sign off each time on the checklists. Hand sanitizer will be readily available.

FOR THOSE WE SERVE

There is love and true friendship here. We see it every day. There was Dwayne and Bob. They were true friends and protected each other daily.

They had a lot in common – they loved music, small animals, and their families, whether related to each other or pulled together by shared experience. They’d both lived hard, all their lives. Neither wanted to go back to prison. They both had difficult, chronic health conditions.

Bob had advanced liver disease. He didn’t talk about it much. He knew it would kill him. This was before the days of a cure for Hepatitis C. The disease caused him a lot of pain. He’d go to the hospital to get the pressure from accumulating fluid relieved, also painful because of the long needle needed to aspirate. Dwayne had a beat-up RV that he lived in, which he shared with his son, and Bob. Often Bob was too weak to get out of bed and needed exceptional care. Dwayne brought Bob his meals, and cleaned up after him as best he could, but Bob was increasingly incontinent and Dwayne felt very bad that he had to ask his friend to sleep elsewhere. Bob moved into a tent on the sidewalk near the RV. It was a wet winter, and Dwayne worried. He asked us what could be done about a safe place for Bob. We failed to find a local agency that would take care of Bob, but instead found a friend that was willing to care for him. Bob died a couple weeks later, in comforting surroundings.

Soon after, Dwayne found that he had cancer. He went through chemo but the cancer was aggressive and took him faster than we expected. Before he died, he made sure to let us know how much he appreciated that we found a place for Bob to pass away in dignity.

Chinatown is a real neighborhood, with neighbors who know each other, are fond of each other, and look out for one another. They want to trust others, but after so many disappointments, it takes a while to develop the ability to trust again.

At Dorothy’s Place, trust has become our most valuable asset, and we want to parlay that trust into huge benefits for our consumers and our community. We are developing a new program, a Multidisciplinary Encampment Outreach Team staffed by professionals, to provide medical care, mental health services, and social services, right in the encampments. We will serve our consumers where they live, but it will take a long and painstaking process of relationship development to make this happen.

Field medical exam in a Salinas encampment.

MOTEL SHELTERING 

Many of those who sheltered in the motel are regular guests of Dorothy’s – people who live in tents and cars on the streets, who suffer daily from traumatic experiences past and present, who eat at Dorothy’s every day, and who have come to us for help with housing. We know their stories and their needs. They know us.

The Housing Authority for the County of Monterey may provide a limited number of Section 8 federal housing vouchers. This will help people with a documented disability. But even with a voucher, finding a landlord that will accept a voucher is often very difficult.

In order to move our guests from their motel rooms into permanent, sustainable housing, we're going to need your help. We need compassionate landlords that can offer minimal low income housing. We need them to know that Dorothy’s Place will case manage their tenant for a year after lease-up.

Please support the work of Dorothy’s Place with your donation, either by mail or online at dorothysplace.org. Have more questions? Feel free to call me or my colleague, Lee Hulquist, at 831-578-4198 or 831-9320-8765, respectively. As always, we are very grateful for your kindness and your generosity

Everything that we have built at Dorothy’s Place to get people off the streets and into homes came only through your help. Please help us take advantage of unanticipated opportunities amidst a crisis. Invest and help us get unsheltered people housed. 

Our mission: With love, respect and compassion, the Franciscan Workers of Junipero Serra provide essential services and transitional support to people experiencing the injustice of homelessness and extreme poverty.