SAN ANTONIO – When single dad Paul Valdez and his daughter arrived at Haven for Hope last summer, it was extremely overcrowded.
“These two sections were where they put the mat, and that’s where we slept, me here and my daughter there,” Valdez said, pointing out a corner of the building that is a resource center during the day.
They slept on mats on the floor for six days before bunk beds became available in the Family Emergency Services dorm room.
Valdez said when they moved to sleeping in the beds, it felt like the transformation started. He was surprised to find that sleeping on a bed versus a mat didn’t just feel more comfortable physically, but also emotionally.
“It did make a lot of difference,” he said. “Your dignity and your pride and everything about you, you just feel a whole lot better.”
They’ve now been in a private room for nine months, working hard to gain independence.
“Getting your social security card, ID, birth certificate, be able to find work and then be able to get the resources for the housing to get your own place,” Valdez said.
That’s what Haven for Hope Communications Director Terri Behling wants for all clients, but said it’s hard when there are so many of them.
“The program, when it started, was designed for 25 families and it just continued to increase, especially after COVID,” Behling said.
She said they’ve been operating over capacity for many years.
“I think even for our staff and team, it became the norm, and we recognize resources being stretched thin, incidents among clients,” Behling said. “You know, when you’re cramming a bunch of people into a small space, tempers can flare. It’s not sustainable.”
Any given night, Haven has had anywhere from 20 to 60 people sleeping on mats, dispersed in lobbies, classrooms and even the chapel.
Every evening at 6 p.m. those areas were cleared, and mats were laid down. Then clients sleeping on them were cleared off at 6 a.m.
“For the staff, laying down the mats every night, picking them up every morning, getting them sanitized and just getting the lobby ready for normal operations. For the clients it was not a restful, dignified sleeping situation,” Behling said.
‘Not an easy decision’
In a recent Haven meeting, a study came up referencing shelter clients that sleep in beds versus on mats.
“They can be twice as likely, in some cases four times as likely, to be more engaged with services case management and to move forward in their journey and move into housing,” Behling said.
It’s one of the reasons they came to an ultimate conclusion: No more mats.
That does not mean they’re adding more beds. Instead, they may have to turn people away in order to stay within capacity.
“It’s not an easy decision,” Behling said.
In the cases where they have to turn someone away, they would try to give that person resources.
“We will provide the taxi voucher or the bus ticket, find diversion resources that are out there, family reunification,” Behling said.
Behling said the decision is the result of a bigger problem.
“As a community, can we come together and look at other solutions? Because Haven can’t be the one solution for the entire community,” Behling said. “So what can we do? More prevention dollars, more diversion dollars, there’s so many resources out there are probably unknown to families.
Valdez said he feels the decision is a “good move.”
“There’s just so many people,” Valdez said. “It’s an issue and it’s a problem, but what is a shelter to do when there’s so many people like that?”
The idea is that quality versus quantity can lead to more success stories like Valdez, who just this week received his housing voucher.
“Here are my apartment keys,” Valdez said in tears. “It’s going to be two beds, two baths. Words can’t describe how I feel.”
People who show up to Haven when they are already at capacity are advised to come to intake office or call the intake number daily regarding availability. The number to the intake office is 210-220-2357.
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