SLO County church hosts monthly donation event for homeless. ‘It’s all a blessing.’

On the last Sunday of each month, parishioners and volunteers from First Baptist Nipomo load up their vehicles and head north, Rubbermaid tubs packed to the brim with items destined for donation.

The volunteers set up shop in the parking lot of a Denny’s in Pismo Beach located near a large homeless encampment in the El Camino Real open space, deploying folding tables, laying out the contents of the tubs and readying meals for the homeless South County residents who will soon flock to the event for a hot meal and clothing.

For the past six months, the church has organized outreach events in South County — the product of a December Bible study brainstorm on how to embody the church’s ideals of selflessness, homeless ministry organizer Daniel Russell told The Tribune.

The Bible study members decided to try putting together a donation of clothing and blankets for homeless South County residents, but were only able to muster a small pile that wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the needs of the local population — until Russell turned to social media app, Nextdoor.

“I put a post on Nextdoor, and next thing you know, I had like 2,000 items from brand-new socks, jackets, blankets — everything you could think of, all the way to hygiene,” Russell said. “Then another group donated like 30 bags of non-perishable food.’

By the time the church’s first donation event that month was finished, Russell came home with less than a grocery bag’s worth of items, the rest in the hands of around 30 unhoused people.

Following the success of the first event, the church decided to make it a monthly task.

“We went from not having enough to, ‘How can we even hand this much stuff out?’” Pastor Michael Denton said.

How homeless South County residents can get free clothing and food

Since starting their outreach events, First Baptist Nipomo’s efforts have grown significantly, Denton said.

As the months have gone on, the volunteer group has grown to include around 15 people from both within the congregation and from Nextdoor users.

The church collects donations throughout the month — enough to fill the church’s shed in its backyard each month — and sorts them into different categories, including clothing, hygiene products, blankets and tents, Russell said.

Denton said one advantage the church has over other forms of donations is its flexibility to work with homeless individuals one-on-one to determine and meet their specific needs.

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to gathering donations, Denton said the church instead asks unhoused individuals for information such as clothing size and even takes requests for specific items, which allows the church to provide quality, well-fitting clothing.

At the Sunday events, homeless residents are also allowed to browse that month’s donations and take what they need.

“Because we’re a small church, it feels like we can be nimble,” Denton said. “We’ll literally go shopping for a specific person and grab some stuff that they need in particular ... That’s not something a larger organization would feel like they had the manpower or willpower to do, so maybe that’s filling a niche.”

The church also offers more uncommon services for homeless residents, including pet care, Denton said. One member of the congregation is a dog trainer, and often comes prepared with dog food, leashes and toys, he said.

Denton said as more families at First Baptist Nipomo became involved, the volunteers’ children started helping out, carrying bags for the unhoused residents as they browsed the collection.

Charlie Phelps, a lifelong resident of San Luis Obispo County, became homeless four years ago and spent the past year living on the streets in South County.

Phelps said he receives no benefits or food assistance, and attended the church’s May donation event after hearing about it from another homeless resident.

At the donation event, Phelps got a new pair of shorts and a new blanket.

“I got a blanket and some food, so I have dinner tonight — turkey and chips,” Phelps said. “They just gave us pizza, which is a blessing, too. It’s all a blessing.”

Grover Beach camping ordinance impacts unhoused community

In recent months, Grover Beach’s new camping ordinance has made life more difficult for those same people the First Baptist Nipomo church has been working to help, organizers said.

Unanimously adopted by the Grover Beach City Council at its March 27 meeting, the ordinance went into effect April 27 and effectively shrunk the amount of space available to homeless residents and camps and parking areas.

Each month’s event used to draw around 30 residents, but since the ordinance went into effect, that figure has dwindled into the teens, Denton said.

The new ordinance extended the setback in the El Camino Real open space area to from 200 feet to 250 feet and will add fencing along Margarita Avenue and Charles Street to prevent access from that side.

“No parking” signs were also added along North 4th Street to limit access to the El Camino Real open space area.

Weston Vickers, a 28-year-old South County resident who has been homeless the past decade, said the camping ordinance has made life harder for the local homeless population.

Vickers said staying unsheltered in Grover Beach has become more difficult because the ordinance requires unsheltered residents to move their camps at least 600 feet to a new location every 24 hours.

Camps must also be 150 feet apart, he said.

Vickers said that’s an unrealistic expectation for people living in the El Camino Real open space, which is a little over 2,000 feet long and saw its habitable space shrink by 50 feet along its borders.

“They came in and told us where we can’t camp, but haven’t come in and marked any clear area to tell us where we can go,” Vickers said.

Denton said as a result of the new ordinance, homeless individuals must spend more time moving their belongings and reestablishing camps, leaving them with less time to pursue housing opportunities, go to work or attend the church’s donation events for fear of losing their belongings.

“The unintended consequence is that (the ordinance) leaves people who are already feeling not so great about themselves when they wake up in the morning now feel completely unwanted by people who could and should do something for them,” Denton said.

Nipomo church plans to collaborate with other service providers

In the meantime, the church will continue providing free clothing and meals to the homeless population despite the issues with the camping ordinance.

Denton said going forward, the church hopes to purchase a trailer to store their donated goods, which could be pulled up to donation events and used as a walk-through store of sorts.

Homeless residents could enter through one end of the trailer, pick clothing and items from racks and exit the other end, where food would be waiting, Denton said.

Purchasing vans would also help ferry homeless residents to and from the gatherings, along with helping them attend things such as veterinary appointments, which Denton said can be hard to schedule for homeless individuals.

Denton said he would also like to collaborate with other outreach groups such as Shower the People in the future.