A coalition of organizations that serve the local homeless population is asking for donations to help with its Dec. 21 candlelight vigil at Santa Maria City Hall.
The vigil, titled The Longest Night, happens on the shortest day of the year, explained lead coordinator Denise Manriquez, to serve as a reminder of the elements that homeless individuals live with this time of year. The event also honors the homeless individuals who have died in the last year, she explained.
“We are coming together to just remind the public that this is important, that people do lose their lives to the elements, and they do lose their lives because they don’t have shelter,” she said. “The Longest Night is held on the Winter Solstice, so all over the country you will have people and organizations who go … and just stand out with candles to remind everybody.”
Organizations leading the vigil in Santa Maria will be taking donations from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Manriquez explained, to help support those in the city without shelter during the cold and wet season. Locals are encouraged to bring warm new clothing, blankets, and toiletries.
The coalition of organizations includes Transitions-Mental Health Association (TMHA), the Central Coast Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army of Santa Maria, the Mid-Coast Veteran Alliance, and United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Home for Good program. Manriquez, who’s also a staffer with TMHA, said that the donations will be distributed among the organizations, which will give the goods to locals in need.
“When you have every city in the county doing [The Longest Night] independent of each other, I think it really shows that homelessness is an issue the whole county is facing,” she said. “And in some ways this is a call to arms.”
As a staffer with TMHA, Manriquez said that she works closely with locals who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Mental illness “does play a part” in homelessness, she explained, and organizations often struggle to provide support to individuals with mental illnesses. Nonprofit staff don’t always understand the time it takes for some individuals with mental illnesses to gain trust in others, she said, before they will accept services.
It’s just one of the many challenges nonprofits like TMHA or the Salvation Army face when serving the city’s homeless population, so support from locals like at The Longest Night vigil is important, she said.
“I heard this once and it always stuck with me, and that was, ‘Long before someone was homeless, they were without a community,'” Manriquez said. “Many of the people I work with are people who face homelessness, so I know their stories, they are not faceless to me, and I understand that they are without community.
“It does put a face and reminder to people that they do have their stories, that people do recover, even from severe mental illness, and people can rebuild their life if given enough help, services, and support.”
The Longest Night vigil is Dec. 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Santa Maria City Hall, 110 E. Cook St., Santa Maria. More information is available at t-mha.org.
This article appears in Dec 20-27, 2018.
