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Community Corner

A Humble Abode

Local shelter gives those in need a chance for a new start.

Amy Johnson, a young single mother, spoke candidly about the moment when she decided to escape.

She took her daughter and left behind an abusive boyfriend. With nowhere else to turn and a home she couldn’t return to, Johnson looked into the help from Abode Services. 

“I don’t know where we’d be without this place,” said Johnson, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.

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Abode Services, an organization that provides emergency shelter for homeless individuals and families, has served the Tri-City since 1989. Abode provides also finds affordable housing for those looking for a home.

Anyone seeking shelter can call Abode and, within hours, have a bed to sleep in.

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Sunrise Village, Abode's 17,500-square-foot facility in Fremont, houses up to 66 people. Residents have access to computers, phone and mail services, full bathrooms and lounges with books and a television. Each resident is provided with three meals per day. To qualify, residents must be homeless and be from the area; their job, school or last place of residence has to be in Alameda County.

But this brief reprieve from homelessness isn’t a free pass to live rent-free.

“If they come here, they work hard,” said Abode Services Executive Director Louis Chicoine.

Chores are assigned to each resident to help maintain the house’s operation. All of the residents work with a resident service coordinator who establishes goals for each person staying in Sunrise Village. A contract, which is signed and renewed, differs for each resident and addresses individuals’ various needs.

“For most people, it’s an incredible improvement, but it’s not enough,” Chicoine said about how new residents react to Sunrise Village. “When you have your own place, not only are you not in a stressful condition anymore, but you have permanence. You can trust that you have your home.”

In addition to the 125 subsidized housing units available in Alameda County, Abode plans to unveil a 64-unit affordable housing apartment complex in October. 

In 1999 Abode introduced the Hope Project, a traveling medical unit that operates five days a week. The 37-foot health clinic on wheels provides mental and primary healthcare, dental care and social services to the Tri-City and Livermore areas.

Apart from home-finding programs, Abode also provides healthcare, job training, transportation assistance and, for victims of domestic violence like Johnson, counseling services.

As she recently led a group through her small dormitory-style room that has a bathroom and two bunk beds, Johnson smiled and mentioned the room’s vaulted ceilingsa temporary escape with luxuries for a hopeful future.

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