A.M. enthusiasm contagious in shelter

By Maggie Beidelman

In the hushed hours of premature Saturday mornings, while most students are dreaming away the staggers of the night previous night, a handful of Santa Clara students stumble out of bed at 5 a.m. to make breakfast.

No, this is not an embargo on Benson food. The students cook and share breakfast with the residents of Julian Street Inn, a temporary safe haven for about 70 people living in downtown San Jose who are homeless. The program, appropriately termed The Breakfast Club, is one of many organized by the Santa Clara Community Action Program.

"I love getting to know (the residents of Julian Street Inn), because they're such fascinating people," said sophomore Kelly Helfrich, who has been making this weekly breakfast since last year. She expressed her interest in the unique stories that each of the individuals living at the shelter has shared with her over pancakes and eggs.

The breakfast itself is not ordinary, either. Anywhere from four to 10 volunteers lug pounds of fruit, vegetables, hash browns and ideas for the latest pancake recipe into the industrial kitchen at about 5:30 a.m. each week.

The outcome is hundreds of thick pancakes, savory egg scrambles, an assorted fruit salad, toasty hash browns and sausages, all of which serve between 30 to 70 people, depending upon how many show up. While cooking, the remarkably bright-eyed volunteers sing along to a playlist on volunteer Josh Zuniga's iPod. "It just became part of the Julian Street tradition toward the end of last year," Zuniga said.

Once the aroma of this truly hearty breakfast has filled the food hall and everyone's plate has pancakes with syrup threatening overflow, the volunteers take their place amongst the residents, conversing about the past week, their lives and the much appreciated food.

"This is their one breakfast of the whole week that's not just plain old cereal," said Helfrich. "It's a very special treat for them."

Emory Lynch, SCAAP director, said that "a lot is shared over a meal," after she made her way around the room last Saturday, chatting with residents while munching on the pancake experiment of the week: banana walnut pancakes.

Amidst the lively conversations and satiated appetites, a sudden lull in activity was followed by fervent applause of the residents.

"They're very thankful for (breakfast)," said Zuniga.

Helfrich agreed. "They always clap, every week," she said, "and their faces light up." She said this gesture alone was worth the early morning rising, because "there's so much more to it than 5 a.m."

Julian Street Inn is one of four emergency homeless shelters in San Jose created by InnVision, whose goal is to empower homeless and at-risk families and individuals to succeed in their jobs and in society. As Northern California's only homeless shelter for the seriously mentally ill, Julian Street Inn provides a secure place for men and women, who take part in rehabilitation and counseling at the shelter.

Hertz articulated how surprised she was to find that many of the residents at the shelter were no different in character than many of her very own family and friends. Many of the residents used to be just as well-off as we are, she said, but misfortune happened to cross their path, leaving them dependent upon the goodwill of others to help them through difficult times.

"I was watching you guys in there, just having fun," said one of the Julian Street residents with a smile. He was referring to the volunteers, who were laughing and singing to such music artists as S Club 7 and Kelly Clarkson while scrubbing dishes.

Despite the overcast sky outside, there was not one cloud of fatigue to be found in the kitchen that morning. As the students exited the crowd full of content stomachs at about 8:30 a.m., the residents once again expressed gratitude, reflecting the volunteer's own cheerful smiles.

Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.