ECHO impacts North County homeless population
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Goal of shelter is to, “restore dignity to those who are at their lowest,” says director
–Although the issue of homelessness in America has improved with the economy, dropping from 2,186 reported homeless to 1,515 between 2013 and 2015 (about thirty-one percent) in San Luis Obispo County according to the San Luis Obispo Department of Social Services, the issue is still present and requires addressing.
This is especially true in this county, where the housing prices are noted to be over nineteen-percent higher than the average for the rest of the U.S. With these relatively hefty rates for common shelter, one could expect the homeless population to be a point of concern.
Luckily, Atascadero is graced with the aid of the El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO), a non-profit organization that supplies food and overnight shelter for homeless families and individuals within the county. ECHO is one of five homeless services on the central coast, as well as the only shelter based in Atascadero. ECHO’s services have been established for well over a decade, but it had not been established full-time until 2012. ECHO is open for service at 5 p.m. daily for dinner and overnight shelter, but the organization requires that all clients are out of the facility by 7 a.m.
A playground was installed just outside of the facility by the local Kiwanis club.
ECHO’s executive director, Aurora Williams provided a look at the organization’s main goal saying it is, “to restore dignity to those who are at their lowest.” They act upon this goal by providing all resources, information, and other forms of aid to their clients, but not taking action for them when it comes to housing and applying for a job. By doing so, ECHO hopes to empower their clients to take charge of their own lives and pick themselves up off of the streets. Williams described the process as a sort of ‘teach-a-man-to-fish’ process where case managers figure out the strengths and weaknesses of each individual to better suit them for a certain career type and thus, placing an action plan to guide to tell the individuals who to call and what to do, without acting upon the plan on the client’s behalf. Williams summed up the goal with the simple phrase, “I can’t do for you what you can do for yourself.” Williams went on to mention one such client who had gathered the funding to rent an apartment and is now living with her pets.
ECHO has been undergoing a number of renovations, from the installment of new washing stations to the simple repainting of picnic tables for their evening meals. Recently, the organization created a reading corner for kids and is planning to have incumbent supervisor Debbie Arnold as an esteemed reader at the shelter soon. “Reading really just helps parents connect with their children” said Williams. ECHO is even developing a music program to help instill a passion for music in children at the facility. Williams also mentioned some upcoming events including the “Long Walk Home” walk-a-thon fundraiser, happening on Saturday, Aug. 27.
ECHO’s supply room, which provides for a number of their clients’ needs, whether they be for towel or for medical attention.
ECHO dedicates much of its success to the support of financing and volunteers from local churches such Atascadero Bible Church, St. Williams Church, as well as churches from Creston and Shandon, which have to make a substantial trek in order to come and serve. Williams expressed a great deal of gratitude towards the numerous volunteers and even plans to hold an event once a month, where instead of having volunteers help feed clients, clients and staff feed the volunteers as an appreciation dinner for their time and effort invested into ECHO. “As an organization,” said Williams, “we are by no means rich. But, when you look the volunteers this organization has, you can’t get any richer.” ECHO continues to support its community and is constantly making plans to invest in each person individually, to hopefully lead them on the road to success.
