Setting up a drop-in resource center serving the unhoused in Pacific Beach was something of a gamble.
“Is it going to get done? Are we going to be able to pull this off?” were two questions Caryn Blanton of Shoreline Community Services asked herself before The Compass Station opened recently serving the unsheltered, offering numerous services under one roof at 1004 Chalcedony St.
Added Blanton: “I kept saying, ‘We’re going to go forward.’ But I had no idea of what to expect. I didn’t know if two people were going to come (a day), or 30 people – or 1,000.”
Blanton is pleased to report that it turned out to be in-between those extremes. “We had 12 on the first day,” she said.”We’re continuing to see 12 to 15 people a day. I expect that to grow.”
Blanton presented a list of how many unsheltered reported to the drop-in center during its first month of existence, and what they did while there.
There were 361 total visits from guests during the first month consisting of 22 nurse appointments, 100 loads of laundry done, 139 guests charging their electronic devices, 60 guests using computers, 25 guests got showers, eight guests were given mental and behavioral services from the County, 17 received County benefit services, 27 took advantage of mail acceptance, one person and one family were reunited, five people were given identification vouchers, six people recovered their birth certificates, and three were connected with the Veterans Administration.
Blanton noted that PATH homeless services, Family Health Services, and San Diego Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team drop in the center on a weekly basis supplementing the staff of 20 volunteers, known as guides, who assist the homeless in accessing services available to them.
The new all-purpose center is in a shared space with God’s Garage and is a collaboration between nonprofit Shoreline Community Services and two Pacific Beach churches – Christ Lutheran Church, and St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea. The revamped facility is used for AA and NA meetings before and after Shoreline Community Services is there operating the resource center on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
“Christ Lutheran Church, which owns the property, has been a great supporter of the work Shoreline Community Services is doing,” noted Blanton of the origin of Compass. “The church’s pastor David Nagler and I had been in conversations for six-plus years, talking about things that could be good to have in our neighborhood, things that would enhance it as far as helping our unhoused neighbors.
“One of those things we felt was needed was a drop-in resource center. And, as most things go, when the timing is right, and the right people are around the table, things just fall into place.”
Blanton said converting the space on Chalcedony for co-use was a real undertaking. “It was like going back to the 1960s,” she said of the previous décor. “It was like old institutional. It was horrible.”
But she was able to find construction management firms willing to do an estimated $40,000 worth of pro-bono restoration work.
“It was just a great collaboration,” she said. “They did it in-between two big projects and they gave me a 14-day work schedule and they finished under time.”
Since Compass opened, Blanton has been busy making sure volunteers staffing it are properly trained. She said she will oversee that until she is convinced “they can man the fort without me.”
Blanton added the next move is to expand the facility’s ability to provide employment for the unsheltered by finding apprenticeship and workforce programs out in the community. “Employment is so important for the unhoused, because it gives meaning to life, gives a person a reason to get up, gives you confidence and self-esteem and dignity,” noted Blanton.
What is the key to giving the homeless a hand-up?
“Right now, it’s not hard to get somebody into the system,” answered Blanton. “That’s the easy part. But there are no homes to put people in. And so my messaging to community members and businesses has changed a lot. It’s gone from, ‘Let’s try to get people housing.’ to ‘what are we going to do with them while they’re waiting for housing?’ It’s a long wait.”
In the meantime, Blanton said Shoreline Community Services is “here to make sure people are being cared for with compassion and with equity. Compass is a place where you can do your laundry, charge your phone, and use the computers. But our main purpose is to get them off the street, whatever it takes, and find whoever we need to connect them with.”
The next “really” big step to resolving homelessness isn’t hard to guess. “What is going to solve the problem is not a mystery,” Blanton said. “We need more affordable and low-income housing. It’s a matter of how complete we can make things (housing) happen to get people in.”
Basic services and dignity for the unsheltered are offered at The Compass Station
Giti de Marie, who welcomes people receiving services at The Compass Station for the unsheltered in Pacific Beach, recalled the first person who stepped through the new facility’s door a month ago.
“It was a 91-year-old vet who was about to be homeless – and it was just really shattering,” de Marie said. “He was really lost. So we got the VA on it right away. I’ll just never forget that. So many people don’t realize how lucky they are not to be put in this situation.”
By noon on a weekday at the homeless services center at 1004 Chalcedony St., which opens at 10 a.m., 20 clients had already come in for “shower day.” Shower day is held on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, as well as other services that are provided.
“I greet people as they come in and sign them in for whatever services they might need,” de Marie said of her role. “They bring in their laundry. We can do one load a week. When we’re not busy, we’re very happy to do a second load.”
De Marie has been volunteering to help homeless people since age 17. “It started out as a class project and just spoke to my heart,” she said.
“It’s a great networking community here,” said another Compass guide, Mirranda Boshart, who added, “Everything is running more smoothly than I had predicted. It is being used more.”
The center for the unsheltered is almost like a home for guests living out of their vehicles, like Dawn Abbyson. “I came to get a shower and my laundry done,” said Abbyson, who has two dogs and a camper but, she said, “no place for it (camper) right now.”
Discussing everyday problems confronting the homeless, Abbyson said: “It’s very rough. There are not too many bathrooms that you can go to. In restaurants, you have to punch a keypad. And unless you buy something, you can’t get that.”
As far as taking showers at public beach facilities goes, Abbyson pointed out, “The worst thing is it’s ‘cold,’ and that’s a little hard. “I’m thankful. But I wish there were more of them.”
Abbyson is getting information to fulfill her ambition of becoming a massage therapist, which she said requires 200 hours of training to get certified.
Leah Pitt, 59, is also a guide who volunteers twice a week at Compass. She has very personal reasons for being there.
“I’m dual-diagnosed, I am a recovering addict, plus I have a mental illness,” said Pitt, a PB native. “I kind of got double-whammied. I like to help people who are dual-diagnosed. I like to tell them my story.”
Pitt was in her late 40s when, she said, “My other half died. In one day, I lost everything pretty much. I went to a friend I’d known since kindergarten who was homeless. I didn’t know what to do. He showed me. I didn’t leave his van for four months. I was just petrified.”
After becoming homeless, Pitt said, “My sister and son didn’t talk to me. That hurt me more than anything. I had to pick myself up all by myself.”
Of how she was able to get off drugs and the street, Pitt noted: “I was just tired. I stopped thinking of the past. I wanted a solution for my future. I wanted to know who I was really. I found the solution in being the best Leah I can be.”
Recently, Pitt received federal HUD Section 8 status, which will allow her to get into housing. “Being unsettled for so long has been a learning experience,” she admitted. “It’s made me realize how very grateful I am to get settled. I have so many goals, As soon as I get settled, I want to go back to school and do a lot of other things I’ve been putting off. I’m so excited.”
Guide de Marie, who lives in senior housing nearby, pointed out Compass provides numerous resources including nurses and mental health practitioners. It’s all done in a casual, comforting, non-threatening way. “Some people come in just for the movies, or to chill, and then they eventually ask about the services that are provided,” de Marie said adding, “There haven’t been any big problems.”
After just one month, those working at The Compass Station agree that it has been a marvelous and noble experiment and one that has worked.
“To see it come together, it just really tickles me,” said de Marie.
“This is such a large undertaking. And it is already smoother (running) than one would think,” concurred guide Boshart.
“You can come out of this shining – you can do it,” concluded Pitt, about being homeless and taking advantage of government services collaborating with others.
