Keeping Tabs: Expanded Hours and Housing Vouchers

Jan Berstein Chargin, chairwoman for the Gilroy Compassion Center, filled Patch in on the latest news coming out of the center.

The center has added new hours of operation and will now be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. The center had previously been open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Berstein Chargin said that the next is planned for Friday, March 30, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"Volunteers are needed," she said.

Those interested in volunteering can send an email to gilroycompassioncenter@yahoo.com to find out how they can get invovlved.

Tickets are now on sale for "Notes of Compassion," a benefit concert that will be held on April 12 to raise money for building upgrades and homeless shelter construction. The Brigham Young University Sinfonietta will perform classic orchestral pieces, followed by a dessert reception. Tickets are $25 each and can be ordered online.

Lastly, Berstein Chargin noted that a support group led by Gardner Family Health is being held onsite every Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The group is open to anyone who is homeless.

Patch that the county board of supervisors approved a subsidized housing program for the chronically homeless. One hundred housing vouchers will be given to homeless invididuals and families during a 12-month pilot program.

Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who represents Gilroy on the board, expressed his support for the program.

“This is a great example of doing the right thing in a fiscally responsible way,” he said. “I am pleased to be a part of this new effort to provide housing support for the chronically homeless, while still saving taxpayer dollars.”