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Original image by Jacqueline Ramseyer. Photo alteration by S.R. Woehrmann.
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One Step at a Time
Homeless residents find housing and employment
By George Moore
Photographs By Jacqueline Ramseyer
The 34-year-old homeless man was laid up in a car for 30 days with no money and no drugs, so broke and desperate that he didn't know what to do. He could see the hatred surfacing inside him and could see himself turning to violence. He looked back at his life and realized he had done nothing but bad things. He went to jail for two years at age 16 and after only six months of freedom was sentenced to five more years. After another three-year stint in jail, the 26-year-old man told himself he was never going back to jail again.
After bouncing around from place to place, working off and on, but always having a place to stay, Danny Esquivel opened his eyes to the reality of his situation just in time.
"God slapped me in the head and gave me a conscience," Esquivel said.
He hadn't showered and had barely eaten for a week as he got on a bus and went to InnVision, a year-round shelter provider in San Jose dedicated to empowering the homeless. Esquivel said he felt that the desperation shown in his eyes had enabled him to get into the program on that same day.
Esquivel is now 36 years old and two weeks into a 90-day rotating shelter program developed by Cupertino Community Services (CCS) 10 years ago. Because it is considered a working shelter, those entering without a job have a 30-day grace period to find one.
Jaclyn Fabre, executive director of CCS, said they serve a very special group of homeless people. Fabre said the weak economy and the lack of housing in the area have caught some by surprise.
"We had a engineer who had just graduated and moved to Silicon Valley, thinking he would find a job," Fabre said. "Basically, he came at the wrong time. He had $800 in his pocket and couldn't find a job and ended up homeless."
Fabre said CCS is funded by various cities, including Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Saratoga, Los Altos, and Santa Clara County, but that Sunnyvale is considering a decrease of its funding because the program doesn't serve enough people from that area.
"My issue has always been that the definition of 'homeless' is that you don't have a home; therefore you don't have a city," Fabre said. "It's really important to realize that homelessness is a regional issue, and we are a part of Silicon Valley trying to address it from a regional standpoint. It's not important to me where they come from. If they are in this area and we don't provide them shelter, they're going to be out in the street."
The shelter rotates monthly from several churches in a collaborative effort. Half of the churches involved are in Sunnyvale, and the shelter is being run in a gymnasium at the Presbyterian Church of Sunnyvale.
"There's still a huge problem with housing shortages," Fabre said. "It's a regional issue, and we should approach it that way and not put another hurdle in front of a homeless person."
Jim Rusten, 52, who has a master's degree in business from Gonzaga University, works on the taxes of one of the shelter's employees. Rusten, who has three children in their 20s, took a year off to spend time with his middle son, who's autistic, only to come back into the tech industry and find that the job market had crashed. 'It's like being in constant survival mode.' On the cover, shelter resident Danny Esquivel tries to pass the time.
The goal of CCS and its homeless program is to get people out of the shelters and into transitional housing and eventually into something permanent.
Scott Jergen is hoping to take the next step into transitional housing in about a week. Jergen worked on a ranch in Santa Rosa, and his future looked bleak, as well his relationship with a woman strung out on drugs.
"I just packed my bags and came to San Jose," Jergen said. "I used to live here when I was a kid."
Jergen was staying at a regional armory in Sunnyvale, but felt like he had stagnated, working day to day at a labor connection facility.
"Somebody told me about this place and it's been a godsend," said Jergen. "I got a job the first day I was here."
Jergen said he has been at the shelter for about two months, working full time at De Anza College. It will cost him $550 to move into a room at a transitional housing unit, then $350 per month. He can stay there for six months, with a possible extension period--saving his money toward something permanent.
Nadine Hutchinson, program manager for CCS, helps people with a number of support services. The service offers counseling, financial aid, help with drug and alcohol issues, and personal financial planning with support from Cupertino National Bank.
Hutchinson helps to make sure people stay on track with their goals and follow their game plan from the time they enter the shelter and during their time in transitional housing.
The rotating shelters have a 15-person capacity for men only and there is a waiting list. Women and women with children are placed into the transitional program.
"If we encounter a [homeless] woman with a child ... and we can't get them into housing right away, we send them to a hotel for a couple of days until we can find them a place to stay," Fabre said.
Ron Eiland is night supervisor at the rotating shelter three nights a week. He is living proof of someone who benefitted from a similar program.
Eiland said he was a truck driver for 12 years and had to start over after a work-related injury. He and his family found themselves homeless and had to live with family members for a short period before entering an emergency-housing consortium, which is a five-month program.
Eiland is also doing some warehouse work and said that by the grace of some good programs and the good Lord above, he and his family are back on their feet.
Eiland said he feels that his time spent at the shelter is a chance to give back and show people that they can make it out of their situation.
"It takes some work and you have to be persistent," Eiland said. "I tell them that there's going to be some tough times and they just have to grin and bear it."
Ronnie Eiland, 42, a part-time night supervisor at the rotating shelter currently open at the Presbyterian Church of Sunnyvale, is employed at Varian Medical Systems but previously spent a year living in a family housing shelter after a work injury put him on disability for 'two solid years.'
Esquivel is now going through some of those tough times. He is having a difficult time trying to find employment, partly because of the economy, but also partly because he has very little job history and is labeled as an ex-convict.
Esquivel said he is seeking a position in the maintenance field; he has some electrical and construction experience. He is open to working most anywhere right now in order to be able to stay at the shelter; he hopes to move into transitional housing. But Esquivel is worried that he won't land a job that promises him any chance of a future.
"I want to have a home one day--I want to have a car and a wife and kids some day," Esquivel said. "Right now it's hard, and I can understand that. I need to get a job first before everything else falls into place. I'm on a bus all day going from place to place, turning in résumés and interviewing for jobs. Then the next day I do it all over again. It can be frustrating. Some days I almost want to give up, but I know that I can't if I ever want a real future."
Esquivel said he took shortcuts all his life and found out it doesn't pay. He said he is committed to doing everything the right way and gave advice for young people who may be having similar experiences that he had when he was young.
"Open your eyes, because that's how fast it goes," he said as he snapped his fingers. "If you don't, you're just going to get into trouble, and when you wake up, you're going to be by yourself. I really don't have anyone right now. All my family has moved out of San Jose--I don't even know where some of them are, and I've lost most of my friends."
Esquivel said he is hoping that someone looks in their heart and sees him, and not what he has done in the past or what he is going through now.
"All I need is a chance," he said.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
