Jake Medcalf, the lead pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Hayward and founder of Firm Foundation Housing, believes that the recently established small home initiative in Alameda County saves lives. The new residences are located at 15400 Foothill Blvd., a former behavioral health care facility, including a bed, kitchenette, bathroom, and dining space.
According to Local News Matters, each night, more than 8,000 people in the county are homeless, with 79 percent sleeping on the streets or in tents or vehicles.
The project, according to the preacher, is genuinely saving lives. Medcalf is also the creator and principal of Firm Foundation Community Housing, which played a role in the project's construction, the report also mentioned.
Fifteen of the 35 units will provide temporary housing for unhoused people who are frail or ill but do not require hospitalization. One of those units, according to Medcalf, could have saved Ken Woodmansee's life, the article further detailed.
Ken Woodmansee
According to the report, Medcalf said Ken Woodmansee is an unhoused Alameda County resident, was one of the first to park his van as part of the park-out program at First Presbyterian Church in Hayward. Woodmansee spent Thanksgiving with Medcalf and his family, who described him as "a wonderful, compassionate, and delightful soul."
Medcalf's children adored Woodmansee, and the family would stop along the way to take him where he needed to go in Hayward and Castro Valley. To help Woodmansee recuperate from hernia surgery, Medcalf outfitted a van with a futon, but he never fully healed and died of liver illness, the same source bared.
Medcalf told the crowd that they were two years late for Woodmansee during the formal opening of 35 tiny dwellings in unincorporated Alameda County near San Leandro, the report also stated.
Inspired by First Presbyterian Church's Park-Out Initiative
28 of the 35 units are self-contained, while six are part of a modular structure. Security guards are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the location, as per the source.
Residents of the village are given access to county resources to help them find a permanent home, obtain social services, and receive medical and behavioral health care, as per the story.
According to Local News Matters, similar small cottages were built in the parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church of Hayward at 2490 Grove Way in Castro Valley as inspiration for this project.
Despite some infrastructure and utility issues, the tiny homes that opened Wednesday took only 11 months to finish as a result of that effort, according to county officials, the same source mentioned.
Alameda County spent roughly $8 million on the project, or about $235,000 per unit, with at least some of the money coming from the CARES Act, a stimulus program passed by Congress last year, sources said.
First Presbyterian Church
Everyone is welcome at First Presbyterian Church, regardless of their social or economic standing.
According to the church website, they are a multi-ethnic, multi-socioeconomic, multi-generational Christian community of faith located in the East Bay where anyone can come as they are. They embrace people from all tribes, nations, languages, and backgrounds, whether they live in the hills, valleys, or their cars.
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