CVRM’s 90 Days of Summer brings homeless outreach to Cathedral City
The heat of summer is already underway in the Coachella Valley, and one local non-profit is working with Cathedral City Police connecting with homeless individuals, helping them stay cool.
Another hot day in the valley is making people seek shade wherever they can. Two volunteers with the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission seek to build trust with a woman found living in her car.
“Sometimes they’re a little stand offish,” Jackie Barela, CVRM volunteer, said. “They don’t know really what our intentions are out here you know. So week after week, we try to stay consistent.”
She leads a group of volunteers and police officers as they reach out to the homeless community in Cathedral City. It’s part of CVRM’s 90 Days of Summer initiative, aimed at helping the homeless get off the streets and ultimately into shelters, away from the sweltering heat.
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“We bring waters, care packages, ID vouchers,” Barela said. “Sometimes we bring along women who help them apply for Medi-Cal and food stamps.”
Each week, they make contact with between 12 and 15 people and have already housed 4 people. On this Thursday morning however, individuals were hard to find…
“They’ll be all over the place. They’ll get on the bus and get a one day pass and they’ll travel all over the valley.
Officer Dwayne Hodge, a homeless liaison officer for the Cathedral City Police Department said the two year partnership with the rescue mission has already paid dividends.
“They can get people in right away in emergency shelters,” he said. “I’ve never seen them turn anybody away. They bring out food they bring out water. They’re great.”
Officer Hodge said if you want to help someone out in the streets cope with the heat, give them what they need and not what they want.
“The best thing you can do for them is sealed water, sports drinks. something with electrolytes,” he said. “Stay away from caffeine or anything like that. Particularly, stay away from giving them money. The money may turn into something else other than hydration.”
As long as outreach continues, both the CVRM and police say they’ll take it step by step, one person at a time. The CVRM’s 90 Days of Summer outreach will continue through August. They have several teams each week helping the homeless across the valley.
