Locals work to help homeless stay cool during summer heat
BRAWLEY — Juan Ulysses Martinez, 82, is one of the many homeless throughout the Imperial Valley who will have no place comfortably to shield themselves from the grueling 110-degree heat this upcoming summer.
In an effort to get Martinez out of the heat for at least a few days, Brawley native Alyson Armstrong took it upon herself to raise any money she could for a hotel room.
On Saturday, Armstrong was able to provide Juan with a three-day hotel stay here, and plans to continue to raise money throughout the summer so he could stay in air-conditioned rooms.
“I just felt like he just needs help,” Armstrong said. “He just really reminds me of my grandpa a lot.”
Before formally meeting just a few months ago, Armstrong and Martinez had never met.
Two years ago, Armstrong would volunteer at the Feed the Need charity group here and would often see Juan stop by for food.
In the past year, Armstrong and her family moved to Escondido, and since then, have stopped and given Martinez food and water whenever they’ve passed through Brawley.
It wasn’t until a few months ago that Armstrong saw Martinez sitting on a bench near the post office here and struck up a conversation with him.
“We were coming back through town, and before, it was always like let’s stop just and give him something,” Armstrong said. “But this time he just looked really deteriorated, and I just felt like he needed help. He’s just really old and not taken care of.”
The Escondido resident said Martinez, like many other homeless, had nothing but a shopping cart and a sleeping bag to his name.
“I kind of didn’t ask if he had a family. He mentioned his parents passed away, and he never talked about a wife,” Armstrong said. “I guess he was just on his own. He also said he landscaped and mowed lawns until he was too old to do that.”
After the conversation with Martinez, Armstrong felt the need to act.
“Just in that little moment of time talking, he just looked tired and dehydrated with very little necessities,” Armstrong said. “I told him I don’t know what to do, and I knew we just can’t leave him here.”
Armstrong then started an online GoFundMe page with a goal to raise $1,000 to provide a month-long hotel stay for Martinez.
As of Sunday, the page had raised $220, which Armstrong used Saturday to pay for his three-day hotel stay.
“I’m going to take on as much as I can at once,” Armstrong said. “It’s hot now but it’ll only get hotter and he can’t wait, so it’s just whatever the GoFundMe makes. I’m not expecting people to house him forever, it’s just that the heat is unbearable. He just can’t.”
The Escondido resident hopes her fundraiser brings awareness toward helping the homeless, even it means providing just a sandwich or a bottle of water.
“I just feel like everybody says they want to help some way,” Armstrong said. “But this man that we all pass by on Main Street every day is there. There’s an opportunity to help someone here that’s right in front of our faces every day. I mean, we spend 20 bucks at Johnny’s every day, and there’s someone we could help right there. You don’t have to relate it someone to do something good for someone.”
Jessica Solorio, founder and chairman of the
El Centro-based Spread the Love Charity, felt Armstrong’s efforts were admirable.
“I think that’s awesome that she took the initiative,” Solorio said. “Hotels are very expensive, and if she can raise that money, that guy is going to be absolutely blessed to have a motel during the summer.”
Solorio said she felt that purchasing motel stays is absolutely the best way Armstong could use the funds raised.
Maribel Padilla, co-founder of Brown Bag Coalition in Calexico, thought Armstrong’s act of kindness was a nice and smart gesture, as it
will provide Martinez with a steady supply of water.
Whether it’d be used to take a shower or to stay hydrated, Padilla considers water to be one of the most helpful things that could be given to homeless.
“You don’t have to be buying cases and cases,” the Brown Bag co-founder said. “If everybody could give a bottle of water to homeless, then everyone would have a bottle of water. If you don’t want to buy a case, then go to Costco, or go to the machine, and when you drive around, just hand it to them.”
Solorio and Padilla both said that during the summertime each of their charities emphasize supplying homeless with frozen water bottles.
“Starting this month, we have an ice chest with frozen water, and we give them two bottles, one frozen and one cold, so they can take it for later and drink it,” Padilla said.
Solorio also suggested individuals looking to help homeless could supply them with sun block, baseball caps and cooling neck towels that could be purchased at the 99-cents store.
“I would never ever want to be homeless in
the Imperial Valley,” Solorio said. “They already have to deal with the issue of being homeless, and soon they have to deal with the heat and sunstroke, and skin cancer and all these other things on top of it. I think it’s super difficult to be homeless in the Imperial Valley.”
For those interested in donating water or other helpful supplies, Brown Bag Coalition can be contacted at (760) 997-2140 or their Facebook page, and Spread the Love Charity can be contacted at (760) 460-4013 or at www. spreadthelovecharityiv. org