‘Safe Park’ program for the homeless expands
SARATOGA >> A pilot program that allows homeless people and families to park their cars in safe parking lots at night is set to start Friday.
Volunteers from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church have been working on the “Rotating Safe Car Park” program for months, recruiting others to their mission.
“This church has always been about helping our neighbors and that’s anybody in need,” the Rev. Sara Pearson said. “Fortunately, we have passionate people who care about their neighbors and wanted to do something to help them.”
The Prince of Peace program is based on a model implemented last year by St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Cupertino. St. Jude’s is part of the Winter Faith Collaborative, a network of more than 100 Santa Clara County churches that help the homeless.
One of those is St. Lucy Catholic Parish in Campbell, which hosts 21 people who drive 16 vehicles into the church’s parking lot on weeknights beginning at 7:30 p.m. On weekends, the same group is welcomed at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church in San Jose. The group is diverse: A younger and an older man, a couple, a middle-aged woman, and an 80-year-old woman and her son, to name a few. They’re people who would be on the streets, if not for their cars.
“They bring us love, goodness and courtesy,” the middle-aged woman said. “I feel safe here at night.” The woman, who uses a cane, said she became homeless last year after a serious accident. Her goal is to buy a car “that’s good enough to get me to Florida because I have family there.”
Prince of Peace plans to host 15 vehicles in its parking lot during June. The same group will move to “partner” parking lots in subsequent months, which is why this particular program is known as a “Rotating Safe Car Park.”
“We’re partnering with other groups, with each partner taking a turn for a month,” organizer Norman Puck said. “We’ve put a lot of thought into safety. The guests who are permitted to stay at Prince of Peace all have to be screened by case managers from West Valley Community Services. They’ll make referrals to Amigos de Guadalupe, who will do a more intensive screening, then they’ll be sent to us.”
West Valley Community Services helped set up St. Jude’s Safe Park program.
“We know our clients and we know who would benefit from this program,” said West Valley’s Sujatha Venkatraman. “This is a temporary solution — we’ll try to find them housing and help them with services if they want it.”
She said there have been no problems reported at St. Jude’s.
“This fills a need for homeless families with kids, providing some stability and permanency,” Venkatraman said. “DeAnza College students have used it and we’ve had a lot of seniors on fixed incomes end up in this situation. It’s for people who can’t get into shelters.”
Pets will be allowed at Prince of Peace, which will operate daily from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m., with church volunteers checking in guests. The church kitchen will also be available during check-in for one hour in the morning, and a keypad is being set up for the restrooms.
“We’re working closely with the sheriff’s department, who will patrol during the night. Guests will be given placards to put in their car windows, so the sheriff will know they’re approved,” Puck said. “We also put together an agreement with rules of behavior that must be signed by our guests.”
The rules prohibit alcohol and drugs, weapons, and cooking and camping equipment. Quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., when music and loud voices must cease. The agreement also prohibits cursing, hitting, intimidation and abusive language.
“We want to make sure our guests co-exist safely and also that our volunteers are safe,” Puck said.
Since the Prince of Peace program is supposed to rotate locations monthly, Puck is looking for other Saratoga organizations to help with hosting. Congregation Beth David is hosting in August and West Valley College has also committed to hosting a month.
“The program is open to anyone in need, but we want to focus on students — they’re a huge homeless population in our area,” Puck said.
“If all the partners line up, we’ll run through October. Then we’ll go back to the city and share our findings with them. If we can, we’ll make it a year-round program.”