Town Hall Puts a Face to the Unhoused
Photos courtesy of Corinne Davidson
Despite a slight drop in the number of unhoused in Alameda County, homelessness remains a top concern for residents. To help match a face to the numbers, the Castro Valley Women’s Club and Eden Area League of Women Voters came together on June 8, 2024, to host a “Conversation About Homelessness” town hall meeting.
About 50 people attended to hear about the reality and challenges of homelessness and learn about the supportive resources available in and around Castro Valley. Jo Loss, the League of Women Voters president, moderated the meeting and welcomed five speakers: Aaron Horner, Lucy Kasdin, Melissa Moore, Sabrina Fuentes, and California Highway Patrol Officer Christopher Oliveri.
Kasdin, a licensed Alameda County clinical social worker, helped explain the county’s role in homeless issues to the audience. According to Kasdin, the office oversees homelessness and works closely with social services and the sheriff’s office. The office's primary role is to support housing, such as shelters and interim housing.
“Here in this area, we have a street health team that provides services directly to people on the street. It includes nursing and medical staff, and they can help people with housing,” Kasdin said.
According to the 2024 Alameda County Point in Time Count, homelessness in Alameda County dropped by three percent. However, according to Kasdin, the number of unhoused people living indoors has increased—this means more unhoused people are living in shelters and interim housing. Kasdin says more data about those experiencing homelessness will be available later this summer
The meeting featured Moore and Fuentes, who both experienced homelessness and now work to help those communities.
Moore was born and raised in Castro Valley and was unhoused for seven years. “I grew up in this town. You know, when we raised our hand in kindergarten to answer what we wanted to be when we grew up, I didn't stay homeless,” Moore said.
Moore explained that being unhoused taught her how resilient people can be and how much backlash one’s community can dish out. Moore got out of her homelessness after calling the St. Vincent DePaul shelter. She needed food, and the people at the shelter provided it to her free of judgment.
“They came with just open hearts, and I started to realize, ‘wait a minute,’ I started remembering my voice,” Moore said. She felt empowered to help her community. Moore eventually got a job as a service provider with a nonprofit street medicine team, and last year she opened her own nonprofit advocacy organization.
Fuentes was previously homeless in Freemont. During her journey through homelessness, Fuentes experienced the different services offered to unhoused people: shelters, medical services, housing, etc. Fuentes went through transitional programs to be self-sufficient again and said she believes these programs are key. Fuentes is now getting her Bachelor of Science in public health at California State University, East Bay.
“I want to illustrate the fact that anybody can end up homeless; anybody can end up in circumstances that are less than favorable,” Fuentes said.
Horner, Community Outreach Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Hayward, honored Moore and Fuentes before speaking. He spoke about the church's two shelters and the different resources they provide, such as beds, showers, and food.
Horner also explained that many unhoused people are unhoused because they don’t have access to support and family. When these things are accessed, people can get off the street.
“Every human being here deserves to have all of their basic human needs,” Horner said. “That's a place to sleep. That's ample meals that have good nutrition. That's shower, that's clean clothes, it's access to medical care, and it's access to mental health care. And that's also access to hugs, love, adoration, compassion.”