Operation Safer Ground: Stories of Success
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Rosemary is a mom with five children all under the age of 7, two of which are special needs. She was a survivor of Domestic Violence. She and her family, due to COVID and the pandemic, came to stay at our PRK site early in the summer of 2020. During that time, they experienced many setbacks. Due to untreated medical conditions of mom she found herself faced with COVID. She was one who ended up in a coma and with some love and support from family was able to make it back to the hotel. At the hotel she received support from the staff and the nursing staff. For Rosemary it was important for her to push on and continue to live for her children. She was connected to a doctor and began working on her health. When the PRK program hotel closed she and her family moved to another PRK hotel site but Rosemary continued working with all of her supporters. She had a great care team. Once again Rosemary had another setback, her sister who was the biggest family support passed away leaving Rosemary feeling hopeless and depressed. Her care team all came together and continued supporting her. It was in September 2021 Rosemary and her family moved into their new home (Oakland Housing Authority units), just in time for two of the little ones to have their birthday in their home. Rosemary has been such an AWESOME mom, doing what she needed to do for her children. “It’s really wonderful what has happened to me and my family because of your program and all the help and support I’ve received, we are in a much better place now and we are safe. We are safe from domestic violence and the pandemic and my kids are healthy, happy and safe”. Rosemary’s health is getting better every day because she has a roof over her head and a place to call “home” for her and her family.
Stories from Operation Safer Ground, Radisson Hotel, Oakland:
After some initial transition, one of our PRK guests began working with staff to get connected to mental health, housing navigation services. This person was able to get connected to full wrap-around services, including the re-start of SSI, and at the end of October they moved into permanent housing.
One of our elderly guests came to us with no family connections and with limited ability to speak English. This person had been chronically homeless for over a year. During their stay at the Safer Ground hotel this guest was able to connect with doctors, receive a much needed cataract surgery on both eyes, as well as additional home support services. We recently referred this guest to rapid rehousing.
A pregnant guest came to our Safer Ground site having received no prior prenatal care. She was able to work with a housing navigator to get connected to a doctor and the medical care she was in need of. This guest was recently housed and had her baby! They are doing great and remain connected with the housing navigator as supplementary support.
David’s Story
David is a 37-year-old with end-stage kidney disease, heart failure, opioid use disorder, traumatic brain injury, seizure disorder, chronic pain and developmental disability who has experienced chronic homelessness. Despite multiple teams across the care continuum having attempted to support him, due to unstable housing and complex social barriers, David has struggled to access needed health care services. In a recent year, David was hospitalized 21 times, with his most recent hospitalization extending 112 days. David was referred to the OakDays Homekey program, which offers permanent housing and services for people experiencing homelessness. The OakDays Homekey site has provided David what no other options have: a safe and supportive environment that values harm reduction and flexibility for a patient with complex needs and challenging behaviors. After entering the program, David started an on-site methadone treatment program and is being offered home hemodialysis. He now runs and plays basketball, and has not had a hospital admission for almost a year.
Delaine’s Story
My life kind of took a turn in 2011 when I couldn’t afford my rent and found myself homeless. I was born and raised in Oakland, got married here, and raised five children. All of a sudden I was a homeless senior citizen.
I was fortunate to have a good friend who told me about St. Mary’s Senior Center. They have a program just for homeless seniors in the winter, and that’s where I went. They had an art class and a writing class, where I took up poetry again, and they had a caseworker who helped me fill out applications for affordable housing. That’s how I ended up here at Merritt Crossing—I won a lottery. St. Mary’s is a good place, but having to sleep on a cot, not being able to lie down when I wanted to, not being able to take a bath when I wanted to, all sorts of people there—it was an experience.
I love Merritt Crossing. I’ve been so touched by the dignity of this place. When people think of affordable housing, they assume it’s going to be rundown—but this place has so much quality. It’s quiet, I feel secure. We have a good community here. I feel great about it, blessed. I just wish there were more places like it.
I get some benefits now that help with my costs, but I couldn’t live in a beautiful place like this without help. When I hear about budgets, the first thing I think about is shelters and affordable housing, because I know how much they’re needed. It seems like the budget cuts always affect the poor and needy first, so I’m always concerned.
The experience of being homeless was really overwhelming, and I would say a life-changing experience. But, when I look back, I’m glad that it happened because I got the chance to meet people different from me. I was never rich, but I was used to having a house. Living in a shelter opened a door in me and made me more sensitive to other people’s situations. Now I know that anyone can become homeless.
When someone says they’re homeless, some people automatically think “What did this person do?” Or “Are they a dope addict, what happened?” Now after going through this, I have a whole different outlook. And people need to know that it can happen to them. Home is where the heart is and when you’re homeless your heart doesn’t have a home. When your heart doesn’t have a home, it’s hard to be happy. Being homeless, it just throws you off.
I’ve never seen so many homeless seniors. I think seniors used to be taken care of by their families, but now that doesn’t happen so much. When you’re a senior, that’s a time of life when you should be coasting in, taking it easier, not dealing with all these emotional things that come with being homeless. I think the idea of homeless seniors is relatively new in society, and now it’s like an epidemic.
Delaine Jones