“Bobby,” a homeless man, woke up in Mitchell Park to discover that his friend had died in his sleep.
“I’ve seen six people die on the streets in the last five years,” he said, “I’d like to see other people sleep out here and understand what I live through every day.”
In a town recently recognized as “The Happiest City in America,” San Luis Obispo County is still home to more than 3,000 people who cannot afford housing, according to the Homeless Enumeration report of 2009.
In response to the growing homeless community, the Cal Poly Community Center will host a week of “Homeless Awareness” throughout the city of San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly students will hold a clothing drive, march through downtown, volunteer at a food bank and spend one night on the streets of San Luis Obispo in an attempt to create discussion about the homeless community.
Michelle Fox, a social sciences senior and student leader for the outreach project, wants to make a difference in the way homelessness is seen in the county.
While some students are well acquainted with the homeless community, others, such as Cuesta College student Emma Chester, are unaware of the need for homeless outreaches.
“I would guess there’s probably like a couple hundred homeless in SLO,” Chester said. “We don’t have very many.”
The week of awareness is mostly directed toward students, simply because many are not conscious of the homeless in the community.
“We’re really hoping to reach out to a lot of students who maybe wouldn’t hear about us or who wouldn’t necessarily hear the facts of homelessness in their classes,” Fox said. “There are opportunities to volunteer.”
Some programs are available to assist the homeless in San Luis Obispo. Each day 90 to 120 homeless men, women and children go to Prado Day Center, a local shelter, seeking a hot meal.
The city of San Luis Obispo has the highest percentage of homeless persons in the county — 36 percent of the county’s homeless population reside in the city. Paso Robles has the second most, with 20 percent. Half of the homeless in the county have been without a place of their own for more than a year.
Dan De Vaul is the owner of Sunny Acres, a non-profit corporation that provides a clean and sober environment for those with drug and alcohol addictions. De Vaul is currently preparing to serve for two code violation convictions regarding the use of his land for housing homeless individuals.
De Vaul said the majority of taxpayer money going toward homeless community programs is spent on “hypocratic bullshit.”
He is closely connected with the homeless community in San Luis Obispo, and said he fears things are becoming worse. But De Vaul said he is pleased to see Cal Poly students reaching out to the community.
“I hope some of the students will seek out our program here at Sunny Acres and volunteer,” De Vaul said.
Paul Rogers, an engineering senior, works closely with De Vaul and the homeless community.
Rogers said the resources for the homeless community in San Luis Obispo are under-stocked.
“I’d like to see more resources and for more people to get involved,” he said.
Many locals find the homeless community an annoyance in the city.
“There’s a growing number of people losing their homes,” San Luis Obispo resident Larry Nash said. “I think the government should be more assistive and get these people off the streets.”
“Bobby” has lived on the streets of San Luis Obispo for more than five years. He has seen a lot, and said he enjoys his life.
“There’s a lot of happy homeless people in this city,” he said. “The grumpy people are the ones with the money. San Luis is homeless-friendly, but there’s nowhere to go.”
For more insight into the homeless problem in San Luis Obispo, check out the video at mustangdaily.net.