Private Coalition for the Homeless May Soon Be Without a Home Itself
Marlon Thomas, 34, is homeless. He came to San Diego from Kansas City, Mo., 11 months ago in search of what he calls the California dream. Instead, he is living “the California nightmare.”
Thomas is penniless and without work and probably in need of cataract surgery. He says he is also “bone tired for a man my age.”
He says he can look forward to a cup of coffee, glasses of water and an occasional sandwich at the headquarters of the Coalition for the Homeless at Market and 14th streets in the shadow of downtown.
But by the end of the month, the coalition itself may be without a home. Director Norma Rossi said its loss may take away the few crumbs--literally--that 800 to 1,000 clients a week look forward to getting.
Rossi, a registered nurse who founded the coalition four years ago, said she received an eviction notice this week. She said she and everyone else on the block were told to vacate by Feb. 28. She said the $400 a month she pays in rent has been deposited in an escrow account for more than a year.
“We really don’t know what’s happening with the property,” Rossi said. “And when they evicted us, someone just put it through the mailbox. We didn’t even get to see the person, face to face.”
County records show the building was sold six months ago by Mark XIV Associates Ltd. to Ann Greenberg. Rossi said that Greenberg is the co-owner of Jerome’s Furniture Warehouse, but neither Greenberg nor her brother, Jerry Navarro, was available for comment Wednesday.
Rossi said the coalition has occupied the crumbling, one-story site since October, 1988, and since then, much of her efforts have involved mothers and babies. She said that of the women who come to the building, the size of a small home, 9 to 10 a month deliver babies.
“We have water,” Rossi said. “We have coffee when it’s cold. We have blankets and Pampers, toys and crayons. We have baby food and formula, bottles and clothing. We have infants’ shoes and a job bank. We even give haircuts and help with resumes.”
Frank Landerville, project director for Mayor Maureen O’Connor’s Regional Task Force on the Homeless, said he knew little about Rossi and even less about the work she does. He said the coalition operates outside the rubric of established social service agencies. He said it maintains close ties to the street, far more than any conventional agency.
Rossi prides herself on being in tune with the needs of the people. She admitted that not all babies born to mothers who use the cluttered building are drug-free; she said about a third of the infants belonging to such moms are “strung,” meaning they, too, suffer the symptoms of addiction.
Rossi said the hours and the tension of working at the shelter have taken a toll, even scarred her, and at times, the homeless show little gratitude.
“I had given a layette to a pregnant mother who was strung,” Rossi said. “After the baby was born, Child Protective Services took (the baby) away. I took the layette back and the woman came here to throw a pie in my face. It was an apple pie, which she was eating right outside. I said, ‘I’m not going to give a layette to a woman who’s going to sell it to buy rock cocaine.’
Rossi said that if a new building fails to surface, if she can’t find the funding to continue--and most of her money comes from a nine-member board made up largely of attorneys--the coalition may cease to exist. She said the tragedy of that would be anguished mothers and babies “without diapers and baby food . . . without hope.”
Marlon Thomas said he came to the coalition looking for help for himself and his family. He said he injured his eye on a welding job in Northern California “and just haven’t gotten it together since.”
He said he gets clothes at the coalition (on Wednesdays and Fridays), as well as coffee, food and occasional part-time work. On Wednesday afternoon, he and about a dozen others were sharing a loaf of bread dropped off by a donor.
Rossi said she grieves for the mothers who find themselves on the street.
