Catholic Charities fair in Santa Rosa a one-stop shop of services for homeless

Silvestre Villamil had gone three months without checking his blood-sugar levels. Villamil, a longtime diabetic, said he ran out of test strips and couldn’t afford them after becoming homeless four or five months ago. On Friday, he received a new blood-?glucose monitoring device and plenty of test strips during the first-ever health and wellness fair for the homeless in Santa Rosa.

“They should do this every year,” Villamil said about the event, hosted by Catholic Charities.

The nonprofit shut down its daily operations on A Street for the afternoon fair, which served as a one-stop shop for hundreds of homeless people seeking health care, housing leads, food and enrollment into county welfare programs. They also were offered free haircuts, flu shots, toiletries, CPR and yoga lessons, and acupuncture treatment.

The event focused on treating the “whole person - their body, mind and spirit,” said Jennielynn Holmes, director of shelter and housing for Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa. She said health problems often can lead to homelessness, and homelessness can exacerbate health problems.

For Villamil, the event provided him with hope. He said he had been a jewelry maker for nearly a decade but was forced to give up his job after he suffered a stroke in 2010. Unemployed, he dipped into his savings to survive and when the money started to dry up, he went out and got a tricycle pushcart to sell candy in southwest Santa Rosa’s neighborhoods. However, Villamil said the pushcart was stolen a few months ago. Unable to bring in an income, he lost his housing and ended up on the street.

“I had no way to work and I became depressed,” he said. But he felt a shift in the winds Friday.

“I have faith things will turn out OK,” a smiling Villamil said. “With this kind of help, your morale goes up. You have to fight. You can’t give up.”

The fair is modeled after one of the nation’s most successful outreach programs, Project Homeless Connect in San Francisco.

Catholic Charities, which found a third of homeless mothers have a chronic health condition, partnered with more than 20 agencies from throughout Sonoma County to put on the fair, which also provided live music and a bounce house and face-painting for children.

The agencies taking part include St. Joseph Health, PDI Surgery Center and Empire College, which offered health screenings, flu shots and hygiene items. Calypso and Dolce Vita salons provided free haircuts, while EZ Smile Family Dental Group did screenings and scheduled follow-up appointments for Saturday, Holmes said.

One partner provided 200 tote bags to hand out. Holmes said they ran out before the event even started.

“It’s fabulous. It just started and it’s packed,” Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Julie Combs said when she arrived, handing an excited Holmes another stack of reusable bags where the homeless could stuff the free toothbrushes, toothpaste and other toiletries handed out during the event.

“We had people waiting here starting at noon,” Holmes said. The wellness fair was scheduled to start at 2:30.

With the help of Santa Rosa Mayor John Sawyer, Holmes raffled off numerous gift cards. “We need to do this often … and throughout the county,” Sawyer said about the wellness fair, arguing it would save local governments money to help provide preventive health services.

Besides receiving a coupon for a free skirt or jeans from the Re-Style Marketplace, Tracy Haupt was able to schedule a dental cleaning on Friday.

“That fact that the appointment is tomorrow is powerful,” Haupt said as a long line of people stood near her, waiting for Chinese food prepared by the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation in Santa Rosa.

“I’m just so blessed,” added Haupt, who’s currently living in a shelter.

Lynette Villa said homeless people often don’t know where to go to sign up for social services, such as Medicare or Medi-Cal. Villa, who’s currently staying at Sam Jones Hall, stopped by the fair with her boyfriend, Bobby White, to get free haircuts and find future housing.

There are many resources available for the homeless, said Wendy Lopez, case manager and outreach coordinator for PDI Surgery Center, a Windsor dental facility that serves mainly children up to 3 years old and those with special needs. But the challenge is connecting them to the services, said Lopez, who spent the afternoon giving out more than a hundred toothbrushes and talking to people about oral health care.

“It’s hard for them to go out and find us,” she said.

“The fair makes it easier,” Lopez added. “We’re here.”

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @eloisanews.