Socks to beds – and caring adults – make this is a warm place for homeless youths

Before Joe Martinez takes a visitor upstairs to rooms at the Sanctuary Transitional Shelter where 15 homeless youths will spend the night, he pulls open a filing cabinet full of white socks.

New socks and underwear are some of the essentials provided to youths at the emergency overnight shelter.

“Little things are a big deal around here,” said Martinez, outreach manager of sanctuary and youth services at the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission.

The shelter opens at 7 p.m. and closes at 7 a.m., offering a bed, a hot meal, a shower and a laundry room for youths 18 to 24 years who are living on the streets. A drop-in center is available during the day, from 9 am. to 3 p.m., for youths 12 years and older.

The shelter and drop-in center fill a need in the community. The EOC had to close a Fresno transitional living center for youths in June when federal grant funding ended. A state grant allowed the organization to reopen a transitional shelter and drop-in center in August at the same location, 1046 T St. The EOC continues to run its longstanding Sanctuary Youth Shelter at 1545 N St., which allows youths ages 12-18 to stay for up to 21 days.

“We knew there was a homeless youth population out there that needed to be served,” Martinez said. “Homeless youths are one of the fastest-growing homeless populations in the country.”

The 15 beds at the transitional shelter stay full; and from 10 to 20 youths visit the drop-in center each day.

And there continue to be youths who sleep in churches and parks. “And we hear of youth sleeping on rooftops to be safe,” Martinez said. “If I was homeless I would probably want to sleep on a rooftop, too. I know I would want to make sure no one mugged me while I was sleeping.”

Josh, 18, who gave only his first name, said his father kicked him out of his home about a month ago, and he’d “couch-surfed” at different places, sleeping mostly on floors. A coach at a school he had attended told him about the shelter.

On Tuesday morning, Josh came to the drop-in center. He wasn’t feeling well, and the shelter was warm and a place where he could relax.

He’s made friends at the shelter. It’s a contrast to the streets, he said. There, “The cops will mess with you and homeless people will try to steal your stuff, and sometimes you can’t even trust your friends.”

Josh has stood out as an artist at the shelter. Martinez showed off two pieces of his work, including a drawing of Dr. Seuss reading with his eyes “shut.” Prompted to explain what the scene meant to him, Josh said: “It’s saying you can do anything … and not to give up.”

Some of the homeless youths at the shelter have been kicked out of family homes for various reasons, including for coming out as gay, lesbian or transgender, Martinez said. Others have run away to escape family violence, gangs or other unsafe conditions. “Here they do find hope,” he said. “They do know we care and we’re there just to support them and not judge them.”

The shelter offers access to health care, community referrals, counseling and life skills classes. Pregnant youths and young mothers are accommodated. Youths with addictions or mental-health conditions can stay at the shelter as long as they are willing to receive help, Martinez said.

Some of the youths are attending college or job training. Some are working. They can get mail at the shelter and use the shelter telephone number and address for job hunting applications.

Every month, the youths at the shelter are asked to volunteer to help with a project. On Dec. 21, they will help distribute sleeping bags, hot cocoa, cups of hot noodles and hygiene items – the “small things” that the shelter has provided to them – but that they now will give to the homeless who remain on Fresno’s streets.

“We want the youths to give back, even under the circumstances these youths are in,” Martinez said. “It gives them a sense of pride and an appreciation for what they do have.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Socks to beds – and caring adults – make this is a warm place for homeless youths."