Gathering for Women opens Monterey hub to serve homeless women.

With temperatures plummeting to the 40s at night lately, it’s been an especially rough season for people who don’t have access to heat, proper clothing or shelter to get through the night.

An estimated 500 women on the Monterey Peninsula are without permanent housing; some sleep in their cars, and some suffer from what’s called “situational homelessness” based on sudden changes like loss of employment or the death of a spouse.

“We don’t see a large percentage of mental health issues,” says Leslie Fry Sonné, who’s retired from the Monterey Police Department and now serves as a volunteer and board member on the nonprofit Gathering for Women, which serves the population of homeless women. “These women were working and want to go back to work.”

When Gathering for Women launched their hot lunch service on April 1, 2014, they had no idea how the organization would evolve to match the area’s demands. With it, a community has grown. “At our first luncheon you could hear a pin drop,” Sonné says. “But now it’s like a sorority.”

Wednesday, March 1, Gathering for Women opens its doors as a service center located on El Dorado Street in Monterey. The center offers resources, clothing, personal care items and limited emergency assistance to women in need.

Inside, a reception area welcomes guests and two office spaces are available for private meetings. A sizable room, comparable to a mid-size bedroom with floor to ceiling shelves stores everything from blankets and shoes to sanitary pads.

The new center will be open 10am-2pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For now, guests don’t need to make appointments to meet with providers, but Sonné anticipates a system will develop over time to better anticipate numbers and needs.

Of the women involved with Gathering for Women, over half are age 50 or above, and 25 percent are over 60. Many of these women can’t afford housing in the area, or have aged out of former employment.  

“We want to have a space where women can come and visit the friends they’ve made, while also picking up laundry vouchers or preparing for job interviews,” says social worker Carol Greenwald, president of the nonprofit.  

“Many of these women get overlooked. They’re silent in our community.”

The nonprofit raised $280,358 in 2016’s Monterey County Gives! campaign, to go toward a long-term vision of a “forever home,” buying a large facility—5,000 square feet—to use for all of its services.

Gathering for Women hopes this is a step toward its long-term goal of a larger facility with resources like showers, where more women’s needs could be accommodated. “We’re confident the space exists for us in the future,” Sonné says. “We just have to wait for the right person to step forward.”

Women in need of services can visit, no appointment required, during the hours of 10am-2pm Mon, Wed and Fri at 187 El Dorado St., suite D, Monterey. Volunteer training happens on the first Tuesday of the month. For more:241-6154, www.gatheringforwomen.org.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the following correction: The hours are three days a week, Mon, Wed and Fri, not Mon-Fri as originally reported.