Out of Desperate Need, An Idea is Born
In the early 1980′s the people in the Santa Barbara area began to take notice of a tragedy growing around them.
The homeless —especially homeless families— had nowhere to seek shelter. With no dedicated beds to meet the growing need, infants, children and their parents were forced to sleep outdoors or in their cars – anywhere they could seek safety. As for help from governmental service programs, none existed.
Reverend Robert Challinor, Rector of Trinity Episcopal at that time, remembers, “I was bombarded every day by people wanting a place to stay—even on our porch.”
Something had to be done. Watching their very own neighbors fall into homelessness was a shock. But as often happens during times of crisis, neighbors pulled together to help each other.
Meeting at the Eastside Library, representatives from a variety of social services groups and faith-based communities (including Catholic Charities, Rescue Mission, Salvation Army, CRIS, People’s Coalition, and Afro-American Community Services) came together to create the Emergency Services Group to face the overwhelming problem. The first order of business was to help those families in immediate need… and quickly. They began to petition various resources in town, looking for someone to help.
On St. Patrick’s Day in 1984, Alice Gillaroo of Catholic Charities met with John Dally and the Vestry Committee of Trinity Episcopal Church regarding the critical need. Trinity Episcopal stepped up to the challenge along with Reverend Bob Pryor of First Presbyterian, Tony Perino of the Unitarian Society, and representatives from First United Methodist. Not long after this meeting, a total of 12 faith-based communities in Santa Barbara came together to form the Inter-Religious Taskforce on Homelessness.
It was from this union that Transition House was born.
On March 1, 1985, Trinity Episcopal Church was the first to open its doors. First United Methodist and First Presbyterian were the second and third shelter locations, providing food, shelter and volunteers to staff the program. The response was overwhelming: 177 people came to find shelter during the first month of operation.
The Quonset Hut, Transition House's dedicated first family shelter.
After two years of moving from one church to the next on a month-to-month basis, Transition House finally found dedicated space. The Quonset Hut at 210 Ortega Street officially opened to guests on April 1, 1985 with 35 beds. Volunteer proctors took turns staffing the shelter overnight, braving the cold, and drinking coffee to stay awake. Peg Gard, volunteer proctor stated, “There were not enough beds and we took turns sleeping. And, hopefully, someone would get the bed warm for you.”
Although the shelter residents had to bear with public sleeping quarters, cold drafts, and overcrowding, they at least knew they would have a roof over their heads, three meals a day, and a warm, friendly smile to come home to.
Initial funding for renting the Quonset Hut was provided by the Housing Foundation of Santa Barbara and an anonymous donor. Soon, remodeling began with Ken Kruger as architect. Bathrooms, a few individual rooms, an office, and a room for used clothing were built into the structure. The Inter-Religious Taskforce changed its name to Transition House. Non-profit status was achieved and Transition House hired its first Executive Director, Alice Gillaroo Hasler.
Storyteller also had its beginnings in the Quonset Hut before moving to its own space at First Congregational Church, where it continues to provide high quality care for homeless toddlers and preschool-aged children.
While the Quonset Hut was serving the homeless population downtown, a smaller shelter operated in Isla Vista out of a two-bedroom mobile home purchased by St. Michael’s Episcopal and relocated to the church’s property. Operating two shelters at different ends of town proved to be a strain on Transition House’s available resources, and the Isla Vista shelter closed. Transition House recognized that families needed more time than the shelter could provide to save money for the first and last month’s rent and deposit needed to move into housing. In 1989, with lots of neighborhood support and a fair amount of neighborhood resistance, Transition House opened its second-stage, transitional housing facility on upper De La Vina Street. Rob Pearson of the Santa Barbara City Housing Authority helped acquire the building for Transition House’s use. The program, eventually named Firehouse in tribute to the building’s prior life as a firestation, housed five families at a time. Each family paid up to 1/3 of their monthly income in rent and participated in case management while achieving the goals they set that would enable them to return to housing.
During the late 1980s, the organizational structure of the agency evolved. Originally, the Board consisted of representatives from each faith-based organization serving the agency, but as time went by, the agency became more secular in its leadership. The same core groups that started Transition House, now joined by new groups, took turns providing dinner every evening and lending volunteer support in almost every aspect of the agency’s program. In total, 27 groups worked to serve Santa Barbara’s homeless population during the Quonset Hut years.
Bill Fox followed Alice Hasler in the Executive Director position, providing strong, compassionate, and effective leadership. Bill was described as having a “heart of gold”. Pamela Allen Jones took over the leadership role from Bill Fox. Jill Cordover succeeded Pamela as Executive Director of Transition House in 1992. At the time, the agency was experiencing financial difficulties. Jill said about her first months, “It was depressing, yet hopeful. When the volunteers and families showed up at 5:00, the place came alive. It became even cozy – with the smell of dinner on the stove and the sight of children doing art at the dining tables under the fond supervision of dedicated community members.” Jill began fundraising and grant writing, setting the stage for firm financial footing for the future.
The former Children’s Home Society Auxiliary chose Transition House for its charitable service, establishing the Transition House Auxiliary, an organization dedicated to fundraising for the agency.
Following a national trend, family homelessness proved to be the fastest growing segment of the homeless population and the Quonset Hut was bursting at the seams. A new home was found two blocks from the Quonset Hut at 434 E. Cota Street and purchased thanks to generous loans and significant funding from the County and City of Santa Barbara. The new space allowed the capacity to be increased to 70 people, and provided more administrative space so that meaningful support programs could be implemented. The renovation of 434 E. Ortega was completed by many volunteers, some of whom were simultaneously taking a class on construction from SBCC’s adult education taught by contractor Mark Lurie. Especially heroic in their construction efforts were Jim Cappon, Bud Allain, Don Harshorn and Harry Taylor. The shelter moved without interrupting services.
Transition House adopted a philosophical approach and began programs to support solutions to poverty. The first of these programs was infant care—the E.L. Wiegand Childcare Center was opened onsite. Consistent with the agency’s child and family centered approach, the after school program was begun through a collaboration with the Santa Barbara County Department of Education.
More programs were developed including the HOMES program and Career Development. The HOMES program was conceptualized to address the root cause of homelessness among residents: poverty. HOMES provided below-market rate or subsidized housing to families who exhibited extraordinary commitment to permanently escaping homelessness. In exchange for HOMES services, the clients signed a contract in which they agreed to work to be free of all forms of public assistance within 5 years. A partnership with the City of Santa Barbara Housing Authority made housing subsidies possible.
The Career Development program was launched to aid clients who were unemployed or underemployed and wanted to increase their income earning ability. At the time of its inception, the Career Development program was a three-stage approach featuring job preparation workshops, individual career goal development and job search support, and long-follow-up.
Transition House made a major step in solving family homelessness by acquiring apartments that would be rented at affordable rates to client families. Transition House purchased a 13-unit apartment complex at 320 S. Salinas Street that was later named Casa Marianna, after longtime Transition House supporter Dr. Marianna Masin. The acquisition of the Salinas Street property launched Transition House’s efforts to develop affordable housing.
In February of 1998, Transition House began keeping the shelter open during weekend days. This allowed clients to experience a “normal” weekend in which they could stay in, and sleep in a bit, too. Knowing how important familiar things are to family stability, the agency also opened the kitchen to families for weekend breakfasts and lunches. Moms and Dads were able to cook favorite family recipes for their kids.
In 1999, Transition House began its efforts to acquire more administrative office and program space. The opportunity to purchase 421 and 425 E. Cota Street arose, and a blitz of publicity helped to raise funds for the purchase. With these two properties, located on the back side of the block of the shelter, came eight apartment units. Transition House HOMES clients moved in as apartments opened up due to attrition. The additional space also allowed Transition House to launch the Homelessness Prevention Program.
Renovation work was completed on the Cota Street property and staff moved in during the late Fall of 2000.
In January 2001, Transition House began offering the same kind of program services its clients received to low-income community families at risk of losing their housing with the launch of the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP). During the first year of operation, the agency partnered with the Santa Barbara City Housing Authority to deliver classes and case management to HPP clients. Santa Barbara City College provided the equipment and staff for an onsite computer lab, as well as an instructor for ESL classes. The physical space also allowed for onsite free childcare for participating families who could not otherwise afford care during classes. Program offerings included ESL, Computer, Career Development, and Parenting classes, all held during evening hours.
Transition House began dispensing clothing, household items, and furniture to clients and participants in the Homelessness Prevention Program in its clothing closet in the vacant Mom’s restaurant property at 421 E. Cota Street while predevelopment work commenced on a plan to enlarge Mom’s to a three story affordable housing and children’s program facility. The first stage of shelter renovation began by adding a dedicated children’s program room and an indoor waiting room, located between the front and back buildings of the shelter. A dedicated sick room and doctor’s office were also established.
Transition House designed and built six more units of affordable housing on its property at 320 S. Salinas Street. Five of the units had two bedrooms and one was a three-bedroom unit. The apartments were much needed to house clients ready to move from the Firehouse to the HOMES program.
In 2003, Kathleen Baushke, longtime volunteer, past board member, and the existing Assistant Director, became Executive Director. In November 2006 we complete a renovation to our emergency Shelter. Transition House has also been working on predevelopment plans for 421 E. Cota Street. When complete, the former restaurant will house 10 affordable housing units and comprehensive program space.
Transition House’s history of community support continues with over 40 service or faith-based organizations and 1,200 volunteers donating their time and talents each year. Area merchants help by donating time, materials, and contributions to the agency’s efforts. Many businesses also offer meaningful employment with benefits to residents of Transition House. Santa Barbara’s compassion, generosity and commitment to its neighbors will continue to support Transition House’s efforts in years to come.
