Hope Village homeless shelter in Santa Maria hosts opening ceremony
SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- Hope Village by Dignity Moves held their opening Ceremony Saturday in Santa Maria with community leaders and special guest presenter, Hollywood Actor Duane Henry.
Henry said the Ceremony was important to him because before making it on the big screen he also spent a period of his life unhoused.
“This ceremony is very personal to me. I didn't have this opportunity when I was coming up because something like this would have gave me a great sense of peace, of mind.. There's people out there with tremendous potential who don't have the opportunity to expose that potential and an organization like this, with the sort of stamp it has in society will be very beneficial." said henry.
Hope Village is the second of five homeless shelters that Dignity Moves is committed to open. The shelter has 94 units that can house one or two people as well as their pets.
There are 130 people currently on the waiting list that may begin moving in as early as next week. The lot is borrowed for five years, the rooms are built by modular construction, and private donors made the project come to life quickly after fundraising six million dollars.
Dignity Moves Regional Advisory Council, Matt Riley says this is a bridge to help people live a healthier and stable life.
"We have very low obstacles for people to come into a place like this. But one thing we do require them to do is to start to work on their plan for what the next step is. And that step might take only a couple of months, but it could take longer than that. And we don't put a timeline on it necessarily, but we want them to be working towards that plan that could be related to physical issues that they might have or mental health, substance abuse," said Riley
The temporary housing will help people get on their feet for six to 12 months, equip them with personalized resources necessary to help their mental, physical and emotional health.
Good Samaritan will provide services from case managers, medical professionals to daily food for residents. The Executive Director of Good Samaritan, Sylvia Barnard said they provide services for Dignity Moves shelters on the Central Coast.
“Good Samaritan Shelter will be the main operator here at Hope Village, so we'll provide all the operations. We're also providing the recuperative care. We'll have medical staff on site, and then we also have case managers to provide case management to help individuals be able to work on what they need to and get connected in the services that they need to move into permanent housing," said Barnard.
Local government officials were present to support Hope VIllage. Santa Barbara County 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson said this is just the beginning to combat homelessness in the county. Community members and businesses in Santa Maria were hesitant at first but local officials jumped on board with Santa Barbara County to help Hope Village come to life.
“You're going to get a lot of pushback from some people that don't agree with the esthetically change or the rhythm change of the county or the area.. I love Santa Barbara. They're risk takers and hopefully they're being a beam. An example for everyone else to follow and realize it's not your problem or my problem, It's our problem," said Henry.
