There is a lack of shelter beds in the Palo Alto area. There have not been enough beds for those in need for a long time. There are even fewer total shelter beds in the area now that Clare Mateo closed.

As Google and other local employers offer landlords higher and higher rents to house their recent hires from out of the area, there are fewer low cost rentals for locals.

The armory in Sunnyvale that shelters a couple of hundred people in the winter is scheduled to close sometime soon.

In fact, one of the only groups actually adding shelter beds around here are some Stanford students who put together a shelter for 15 women last winter that was open for 90 days. They did it with a lot of their own time and donated resources from individuals, local churches, and InnVision. That was their pilot project. It was called the Hotel de Zink: Women’s Shelter (HdZW).

Now they're in the process of incorporating as a California public benefit charity--The Heart and Home Collaborative--whose first project will be a women’s shelter. It is being organized with input from shelter guests and community members who are building on the work and experiences of the HdZW.

They need help. They need locations to house the shelter for at least a few weeks. They need donations. Anyone who wants to contribute to alleviating the shortage of shelter beds for women or to get more information is encouraged to write to info@hhcollab.org.

Chuck Jagoda