by Craig Wiesner – San Mateo Daily Journal – October 31, 2023
For County Executive Officer Mike Callagy, the issue of homelessness is personal. As a police officer Callagy counted on his colleague, a dispatcher, for years to keep him safe. “He was my lifeline and saved my life.” Years after leaving the force, out of the blue, Callagy got a call. “Mike, In about an hour I’m going to be homeless.” Shocked, Callagy jumped into action, got him to Samaritan House which quickly got him shelter and eventually into a hotel room. Tragically, he later died there.
A homeless outreach worker recently said that when most people encounter a homeless person they want to ask “What’s wrong with you?” She says that’s the wrong question. The right one is “What happened to you?” Things happened to this dispatcher, who’d been a poet, bright, funny, dedicated, and, according to Callagy, one of the best dispatchers he had ever worked with. Whatever happened, he should not have ended up that way. Nor should the elderly couple Callagy told me about, in their 70s, who ended up living in their car. The wife kept asking her husband, “When are we going home?” He kept saying “This is our home,” until a Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) reached them and they eventually got into Shores Landing Senior Supportive Housing. Then there was the beloved Little League volunteer who folks had lost track of until someone found him sleeping in a broken down car. He’d become disabled, lost his housing and fell through the cracks. Today he is in permanent supportive housing. “I could tell you so many more stories,” Callagy said.
I interviewed Mr. Callagy, prepared with questions based on comments and emails from Daily Journal readers who are skeptical of homelessness programs, including a belief that they perpetuate homelessness and create dependency. I’ve been looking at many programs while working on these columns, and volunteered with many agencies for 50 years, and I haven’t encountered a single program like that. I’ve also heard the complaint and know that despite spending a ton of money on homelessness the number of homeless people keeps increasing. Happily, Callagy told me that in San Mateo County we are finally seeing a dramatic reduction in homelessness, down 40% this year. That’s in part due to the large number of congregant shelter, temporary housing, and permanent supportive housing units that have been added to the inventory over the past few years. One of the biggest accomplishments was opening the Navigation Center which I wrote about in a previous column, offering 240 units of private temporary housing with wraparound services to move people towards good health, employment, secure housing and independence.
As a shopkeeper I shared my experience dealing with a homeless man sleeping in our shop’s alcove, pestering passers by, urinating on our street, getting drunk and injuring himself. These are among the hardest people to help, but Callagy is confident that having more Homeless Outreach Teams, and CARE Court, which San Mateo County will launch in mid-2024, can help even those with the most difficult issues like mental illness and substance abuse problems get placed into some form of shelter or treatment, which can eventually help shut down outdoor encampments. He shared a goal that someone encountering a homeless person in need would be able to call one number, reach someone like a dispatcher, and get a HOT team out there quickly. When there’s a fire, you don’t wait. You deal with it right away. Homelessness is like a fire, someone could die.
For those wondering about oversight and accountability, Callagy shared ways the county and other agencies are working to ensure that we get the best results from every minute and dollar spent. San Mateo County now has HomeStat, a monthly gathering of every single provider, based on the successful crime fighting strategy known as CompStat. Whatever problems there are, the entire group can work on them together, holding each other accountable, and helping each other overcome obstacles. The cooperation has been inspiring and real problems, big and small, are solved every time.
The biggest challenge everyone is facing is finding space, to build housing and provide services. We all need to work together to fix that.
Wrapping up, when I mentioned the criticism he has faced, Mr. Callagy smiled and said “This is the issue of our lifetime. I’m undeterred and I want to make every day I have in this job count.” He gives a lot of credit for the county’s achievements to the Board of Supervisors. “Sometimes for elected officials it is difficult to do the politically unpopular thing. Our supervisors take this very seriously, knowing that it is not the loudest but the most reasonable voices who are able to get things done.” Amen to that Mike. Visit https://bit.ly/3Qh9GXb for more info.