Open for the 36th year, the San Francisco Interfaith Shelter provides a warm place to sleep for people experiencing homelessness during the coldest months of the year.
“Comforting,” said Marcus Darkraven as he described the shelter. “If this wasn’t the case, I don’t know where I would be and I’m not going to speculate about it.”
Darkraven and his six-month-old dog Celio are currently without a home. They recently lost their apartment to a mold infestation.
He was already familiar with the interfaith shelter program because he used it more than 22 years ago.
“If this wasn’t the case, a lot of people, including myself, would be in a very bad situation,” Darkraven said.
The program increases the city’s shelter capacity by 30 to 80 beds per night, depending on location.
It rotates between five different faith-based locations: Saint Mary’s Cathedral, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, First Unitarian Universalist Church, The Quaker Meeting House and Canon Kip Senior Center, where Darkraven spent the night.
He says he is grateful for these spaces, for himself and for anyone who will need them in the future.
“The evil part of me wishes everyone would be homeless for a while to see what it’s like before you judge someone because you never know what the situation is,” Darkraven said. “You never know if and when you can end up like this.”
The daycare program operates from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. and provides a safe place to sleep and a prepared meal.
Raffi Hourgajian, 12, has been volunteering at the shelter with his father Kirk since he was seven years old.
“I’m proud of you,” Kirk told his son.
For Raffi, it humanizes the people he has seen become homeless on the streets. He enjoys talking to them.
“It’s actually really easy, because they’re really nice to me, and it’s just easy to communicate with them,” Raffi said.
Kirk finds it valuable to expose his son to the reality of others.
“Especially during the holiday season, it’s important to remember that we are very lucky and there are people around us who need our help,” Kirk said.
Darkraven appreciates the assistance and plans to take advantage of the resources offered through the program. He hopes he will find another permanent housing option through the city.
Despite being in one of the more difficult parts of his life, he remains optimistic
“I much prefer to look at the best things, like my situation: one door is closed that I’ve been in for 22.5 years and the other one opens and hopefully it gets better,” Darkraven said.
The interfaith shelters will continue to operate until the end of March. Placement is on a first come, first served basis.
