Redwood City’s Spring Street Shelter gets new kitchen
A Redwood City shelter for homeless people with mental illness unveiled a renovated kitchen made possible by $100,000 worth of donations at a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, Nov. 1.
Housing Industry Foundation Executive Director Robert Freiri speaks to the crowd about his organization and the collaborative effort that resulted in a new $100,000 kitchen for the Spring Street Shelter in Redwood City
Melissa Platte, executive director of the Mental Health Association of San Mateo, admires the new kitchen at the Spring Street Shelter with Jamie D’Alessandro of Windy Hill Property Ventures, one of the partners on the renovation project.
A Redwood City shelter for homeless people with mental illness unveiled a renovated kitchen made possible by $100,000 worth of donations at a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, Nov. 1.
The renovation is the first since the 1940s for the Spring Street Shelter’s kitchen, and it was done by the Housing Industry Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to prevent homelessness in part by carrying out housing projects like this one.
“This is huge for us,” said Melissa Platte, executive director of the Mental Health Association of San Mateo. “This kitchen renovation will allow us to transform an everyday homeless shelter into a shelter that helps to teach/develop independent living skills-similar to a social rehabilitation home. Our plan is to create a ‘group’ led by our occupational therapists and registered nurses to teach our clients how to incorporate healthy cooking and safety skills into their own lives. Learning these skills will support our clients with living independently amongst the community and maintaining housing.”
The renovation expanded the kitchen and added much-needed plumbing, flooring, storage, appliances, counters, cabinets and paint.
“We want to make sure places that house people are in good shape and that they house those people up until the near future,” HIF Executive Director Robert Freiri said. “We know when we have renovations that it costs a lot to fix, repair or change something so we like to come in and take care of that for [nonprofits like the Spring Street Shelter] so they can spend their funds and put their energy toward the clients in their care.”
HIF pitched in $24,000 for the project, matched by $76,000 worth of in-kind donations.
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“What I think is special is bringing all these different resources and people together to create this outcome,” said Steve Sullivan, renovation program manager with HIF. “We bring vendors, contractors, suppliers, community agencies, individual and corporate donors, corporate volunteers — we bring all these people together to create an impact and I think that’s the formula for solving problems in our community.”
Platte said the Spring Street Shelter is the only emergency shelter exclusively for homeless people living with serious mental illness. About 4,000 people have passed through its doors since it opened in 1986.
The shelter is located at 2686 Spring St. and is currently home to 28 people from around San Mateo County: there are 15 residents in the shelter, seven people in transitional housing and six people in permanent housing next door.
“This is a wonderful organization with a great track record,” said Redwood City Vice Mayor Diane Howard. “I can’t think of a better use for the money we set aside every year to make sure we help people in our community that need it the most.”
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