Peninsula church volunteers raise $20,000 to save homeless program, for now.

A group of church volunteers has banded together to save a longstanding program that provides emergency housing to homeless men.

For 21 years, the nonprofit Shelter Outreach Plus has run the I-HELP (Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging) program, giving dozens of homeless men food and a place to spend the night, every night. The program partnered with local churches for lodging, while Shelter Outreach Plus handled bus transportation and logistics.

But in 2011, the nonprofit lost $120,000 in state funding.

“The agency lost [funds] because the outcomes of the men weren’t really good,” says Reyes Bonilla, executive director of the nonprofit. Goals like achieving permanent housing and higher incomes for the clients weren’t being met. Shelter Outreach Plus also has gone through four directors in the past five years.

Last October, I-HELP stopped operating in Salinas, and on Feb. 28 of this year it was due to end in Monterey. But Peninsula churches wouldn’t let that happen: In January, churches called a community meeting drawing more than 50 people. In two months they raised nearly $20,000, enough to keep I-HELP running through June.

“FOUR MONTHS IS JUST A BLINK OF AN EYE FOR A PROGRAM THAT’S GONE 21 YEARS.”

The responsibility for the program has officially been transferred to a group of church volunteers who call themselves the Transition Steering Committee.

“Four months is just a blink of an eye for a program that’s gone 21 years,” says John Clark, associate chair of the committee and an outreach coordinator for First Presbyterian Church in Monterey. “Continuing funds will be needed.”

The committee’s estimated monthly budget is about $4,214 a month – significantly less than what Shelter Outreach Plus was spending.

“A lot of effort is being donated by steering committee members who aren’t being paid,” Clark says. “Bus drivers are willing to drive at very reasonable rates.”

Meanwhile, Shelter Outreach Plus says it’s moving toward a more effective approach of helping the homeless. When Salinas I-HELP ended, several men were enrolled in a shelter in Marina. This permanent location makes it easier to keep track of the clients, who previously rotated through churches.

While Salinas I-HELP worked with up to 25 homeless men, there’s only room for 14 in Marina. But so far, outcomes have been good, Bonilla says, with the majority finding employment after moving into the Marina location.

“Before it was quantity, now it’s quality,” he says.