Getting Off the Streets
A Unique Look at Life on the Streets: Conclusion of a Three-Part Series
The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission provides a great deal of resources for the indigent population of Santa Barbara. The cost of entry is a photo ID and a card certifying that you do not have tuberculosis. For this simple fee, you are provided with a bed, showers, and a free meal, an ample supply of food to keep anyone who has been without from going hungry.
The doors to the Mission open to women around 5 p.m., and to men at 6:15. The men stop smoking cigarettes, get in line, file through a small narrow gate, and end up in a small courtyard in which a lone tree stands. There is a giant storage room where bags may be kept, and after checking luggage into this room, the men check in to reserve their beds for the night or get in line for the dining hall.
The disheveled mix of facial hair, strange haircuts, and mismatched clothing shuffles through two sets of wide double doors into the dining hall. The line sticks to the walls, as the middle of the room is occupied by three long tables with attached unmovable seats. The line ends at a stack of trays and a giant window from which three men in the transition program dole out salad, chicken or beans, rice, and whatever else may be on the menu. A giant bucket of bread gives the homeless an option, as another man in the transition program picks and places either bagels or slices of bread on the food-laden tray, and then a small dessert tray of destroyed or rejected sweets from bakeries around town provides a sugary snack, unless it gets mobbed and runs out too fast. Every seat has a spork and a glass of water.
