$100,000 is raised at shelter breakfast

"This event is more about connecting with the community than fundraising," Panzer said. "And to celebrate homeless people getting homes of their own." "It's a chance to share our success and celebrate," said Executive Director Cassandra Benjamin.

Shelter Network is the most extensive support services provider for the homeless in the county. Services range from providing emergency shelter and meals to job development and life skills workshops. Every year more than 1,400 people come through the doors of one of the five shelters and transitional housing sites scattered throughout the county. Nearly two-thirds of the people served are children. And the organization boasts an 80 percent success rate for families returning to homes of their own, and 55 percent for individuals.

Staff and volunteers at the shelters point to the collaborative work between non-profits serving the homeless and the working poor as reason for their success.

Benjamin mentioned some of the partnerships Shelter Network has made with other groups, including the Interfaith Hospitality Network, Stanford Alumni Association, and United Airlines. Non-profits like Shelter Network do not have the budgets to provide all the services homeless people need, but because of the networks between organizations and with businesses, homeless clients have a better chance of receiving the help they need.

"I don't think a lot of it was consciously set up," said Pat Paik supervisor of the Pacifica Resource Center for the city of Pacifica, about the collaborative effort. "It's being open to partnering and seeing that you can make life better for the same people... If you have a variety of problems, it's important to coordinate services, otherwise you meet rejection."

A representative from United Airlines was there to receive an appreciation award for their work in throwing annual holiday parties for homeless families. They have been based in Redwood City for 50 years. Lee Stillwell, an account executive, said the airline also employs many Shelter Network clients.

"We decided we really wanted to give something back to the Peninsula. The Shelter Network still gives up good employees, so we're still indebted to them," Stillwell said.

Laura Peterhans, a 13 year board member of Shelter Network, helped the organization grow from its founding in 1987 with the establishment of Family Crossroads, a transitional housing program in Daly City. She said at the time, the numbers of homeless in the county was up to 12,000 and about double that of today. There was only one shelter filling the needs of the whole county. Peterhans felt that something had to be done.

"I saw people sleeping in cars, people in downtown San Mateo sleeping in doorways or in the creek bed," she said. Within 10 years, the organization built four more shelters. But with an average waiting list of 50 families per day for emergency or transitional housing, Shelter Network still has its work cut out. Peterhans said the major project she is working on now is securing affordable housing for the working poor, who easily become homeless when they lose a paycheck.

"It used to be the case we were principally serving people who didn't have work. Now the problem is that we have many employed homeless people," Peterhans said.

Barbara Rovins, a board member of Shelter Network organized the first Shelter Network breakfast and said, "It has been a success from the beginning." She said the breakfast does a lot to raise awareness that homelessness can touch anyone.

"I think when you think about how expensive it is to live here, and if you lost your paycheck, how close we are to homelessness," Rovins said.

>