Everyday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. there is a steady stream of homeless adults who make their way to the Mill Street Center in the Canal area of San Rafael just blocks from Highway 101.  They can often be seen during those hours in the area walking with their belongings slung over their shoulders in large bags as they walk towards the center in search of warmth and hospitality at a time of year when rains and colder weather make living on the streets unbearable.

As the only homeless shelter operating year round in Marin County the Mill Street facility has been operating at full capacity, according to Jerry Green, the shelter's program coordinator. The facility has communal living quarters with 12 beds for women, 38 beds for men and five overflow mattresses.

The 2,500-square-foot shelter put a roof over the heads of more than 650 homeless men and women last year, said Green. Beyond housing, the facility provides breakfast and dinner to its residents along with resource counselors, who aid residents in navigating government funded social assistance programs to help them get back on their feet.

Newcomers to the shelter program can call in between 8 a.m. and 10a.m. to reserve a bed. Once they arrive, they go through a quick interview with one of the staff resource counselors, offering them insight into the program and what is expected of them as residents. They have to be able to live in a communal setting, said Green, and are asked for a donation of $3 each night they stay at the center.  

In order to assist in the daily activities required to run the center, as well as meld a more familial atmosphere, all residents  are given a chore selected by raffle to do everyday, depending on their abilities, said Green.

The criteria for admittance is the person must be older than 18, have ties to Marin County, be sober and not be a registered sex offender, said Green, who served with the San Rafael Police Department for 16 years. 

As the only homeless shelter in Marin and with so many more homeless on the streets, said Green, once the facility's occupancy limit is met the overflow must be redirected to other seasonal emergency shelters in the area, which are usually set up at churches. These are coordinated by the Marin Organizing Committee, a coalition of religious institutions.

"Many people are just a paycheck away from being homeless," said Steven Glassy, a veteran resource counselor at the Mill Street Center.  With six years on the job, Glassy has seen it all, including what its like to be homeless.

Before he got the job at Mill Street he was a resident. 

He lost his construction job and was addicted to drugs and alcohol when he hit bottom and could no longer afford housing.

 "I used to sleep right there," said Glassy, pointing to the lower twin-size bunk — one of eight bunk beds placed at each corner of the room. The mismatched sheets and covers on the beds lend the room more of a college dorm ambiance than that expected of a homeless shelter.

 "I was in pretty rough shape. I didn't have a source of income and there was no light at the end of the tunnel," said Glassy, a tall middle-aged man with a disarming demeanor. 

Glassy proudly admits that as a counselor who was once homeless at the very shelter he works puts him in a position to offer advice and insight into the emotions involved with being homeless.

"I know what it feels like to come in the first night — that hopeless feeling," said Glassy

For most, said Glassy, the center becomes a new home and a safe haven that the residents have a vested interest in keeping safe and trouble free. Glassy added that its rarely necessary for him to step in to enforce order when conflicts arise — a byproduct of any communal living situation — because other residents usually help resolve conflicts before he can step in.

"For most it's not just a night to night emergency shelter. It's their home," said Glassy.

Mill Street Center, which falls under the umbrella organization Homeward Bound of Marin, has been in existence in San Rafael for more than 35 years but in its current location on Mill Street for about 20 years.

Executive director of Homeward Bound of Marin, Mary Kay Sweeney, has worked for Homeward Bound for 18 years, said the organization as a whole serves 443 people every night and more than 1,400 annually.  Sweeney said she has seen a dramatic upswing in the amount of homelessness in the last few years, which she attributes to the depressed economy.

"Mill Street Center is an entry point and is a way to move out of homelessness and to New Beginnings Center," said Sweeney referring to the Mill Street Center's sister program in Novato, which helps residents save money while providing inexpensive housing for them. New Beginnings residents have onsite access to a variety of job training programs that teach residents about the culinary arts, landscaping and garden maintenance and janitorial and building maintenance.

"We streamline all of our programs to meet the needs of all the people," said Sweeney in reference to New Beginnings and the other 14 facilities that cater to aiding the homeless in Marin be more self reliant.  

Residents are able to stay at Mill Street Center for up to six months but usually place into New Beginnings earlier, said Sweeney, adding that 37 percent of those who stay at Mill Street eventually make the move.

Resident's stories

After breaking up with his girlfriend and not wanting to burden friends any longer with staying at their homes Alfonso, who like all the homeless interviewed for this story asked that his last name not be used, moved into the Mill Street Center.

"I was destitute really and the only place I could turn was the Mill Street Center," said Alfonso.

At 54 years old, Alfonso, came to this country when he was 19 from Panama and has lived mostly in Marin County and for the last four months at the Mill Street Center. 

"Everybody must carve their own destiny and I'm certainly carving mine. I've set certain goals for myself and I'm staying focused," said Alfonso, who added he was confident that he would find a job in the coming new year.

Clean from methamphetamine addiction for the last three years, Gina, like many of the people at Mill Street fell on hard economic times recently. After losing her job at a veterinary clinic in October and her boyfriend also losing his construction job shortly afterward, the two could no longer afford their apartment in Novato so they came to the Mill Street Center.

Gina who was born and raised in Marin has been at the center for two weeks and plans to go to New Beginnings as soon as she is approved for unemployment.

At 42, Gina said it was no coincidence that a stint at the Mill Street Center three years earlier helped her to overcome a 20-year addiction methamphetamine.

"Last time here it helped me immensely to get clean," said Gina, who attributed her success to the family-like environment at the center in conjunction with the 12-step addiction counseling programs also available.

Gina said she planned to move into the New Beginning's Center as soon as she begins to receive unemployment from her previous employer.

Shirley and John, a couple in their mid-50s, who both have battled alcoholism and had been living on the streets of San Rafael for years before, turned to Mill Street a few weeks ago.

They call homelessness as a cycle. "You feel you are in a whirlpool and you aren't getting out too quick. You are just getting sucked in further and further," said Shirley.

"You can't roll off a piece of cardboard you were sleeping on the night before and go to a job interview," said Shirley. "It all starts with housing. I need that so I know where I'm going to be every night so I can start applying for jobs."

Shirley said that there is a lot of misunderstanding involving the culture of homelessness and the police, who she said sometimes harass them in hopes of getting them to move on to another town. She said police don't understand they don't want to be homeless. "There is this stigma that we are out here because we want to be here," said Shirley.

Substance abuse and homelessness often run hand in hand, said Shirley, because the living conditions on the street makes people want to get self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, which only adds to the cycle.

"It just becomes a vicious cycle all around," said Shirley.