by Craig Wiesner – San Mateo Daily Journal – Feb 6, 2024
A lawyer discussing eternal life with Jesus already knew that one key was to “love your neighbor as yourself.” He asked Jesus “who is my neighbor?” Jesus told this story. A man was robbed, beaten and left bloody on the side of a road. A priest and a Levite passed right by him and did nothing. A Samaritan stopped, bound up his wounds, took him to an inn, paid for his stay and promised to pay more if needed. Some call this the story of the “good Samaritan.” That’s because Samaritans, unlike priests and Levites, were despised by those listening to Jesus, so that Samaritan must have been “one of the good ones.”
A woman, born and raised in San Mateo County, forced to flee a bad marriage, had two beautiful children, was working two full time jobs, and was about to take a third job to make enough for a deposit on a new apartment. One of her kids had attempted suicide thinking that would help his struggling mother financially. He, thank goodness, survived. She visited Samaritan House to get a few gifts and food for her children for Christmas. As they are trained to do, a Samaritan House worker didn’t just hand over a few toys and a bag of food. Instead, their holistic approach to people kicked in, bound up some immediate wounds and then worked with this mother and her kids to help them thrive. Five years later, they are still thriving.
Last year Samaritan House helped over 26,000 people with food, clothing, medical care, housing, and other services. In 50 years of service they, just like the Samaritan in scripture, don’t just help in the moment of crisis, they are in it for the long term, “preserving dignity, promoting self-sufficiency, and providing hope.” Samaritan House is a San Mateo County “Core Agency” handling intake for many of the services available in the county. I interviewed CEO Laura Bent recently to learn more in my quest to share stories about homelessness and poverty in our county and the Samaritans trying to make a difference. My quest was started, in part, by a challenge from a Daily Journal reader who believes there is a “homelessness industrial complex” perpetuating homelessness. Not true. In fact, Samaritan House has “diversion specialists,” working across the county to help prevent people from becoming homeless. Touching 26,000 clients in some way, always digging as deeply as possible to determine a holistic approach to helping people thrive, Samaritan House is proud that they are able to keep many people in danger of losing their current housing stable, so that they don’t become homeless, and providing services to those who lack housing with shelter and long-term assistance to get them back on track to independence. All of that is quite the trick given that 90% of the people served earn under 30% of Area Median Income (AMI). AMI is $122,000 in San Mateo County, so the folks being served have less than $37,000 income, where the average rent for a one bedroom apartment is $2,700 a month. The vast majority of people served have at least one full time job or are on other fixed incomes. Is it any wonder that tens of thousands of people living and working in this county need a little Samaritan help?
Who are our neighbors? Step out of your home and look at the gardeners, folks working at your favorite coffee shops and restaurants, the clerks at the supermarket, the people who clean your workplace, the caregivers in nursing homes and hospitals, the daycare workers, the ten year old boy who thinks that maybe his mother would be better off if he was dead. Who is your neighbor? Do you think people would be better off if they had someone to teach them how to effectively manage their money? You could be that coach! Do you think we should be doing a better job monitoring how our tax dollars are spent? Do you think we should be moving heaven and earth to build much more affordable housing throughout the county? You could be on a government commission or NGO to do that! Do you think many of the people who are suffering are at fault for their circumstances? They aren’t and you could correct that misperception by serving people in need and getting to know them and their stories.
Do you want to help? Do you need help? Unlike the “good” Samaritan who might have felt totally alone in what he was doing, here in San Mateo County, if someone needs help or if you want to help you can go to samaritanhousesanmateo.org or call 650-347-3649. Or, would you rather be the priest and the Levite and just walk on by?