Tickets are still available for the fourth annual Black Tie Bingo fundraiser to support Shoreline Community Services and its efforts to help the unhoused in Pacific Beach.
The Friday, April 17 gala will include dinner, dancing, live music and bingo at the Catamaran Resort Hotel.
The focus of this year’s event will be to raise money for Shoreline Community Services’ new housing project, an initiative called Compass Commons, said Executive Director Caryn Blanton.
“We were given an opportunity about two and a half years ago to purchase six small sleeping cabins,” Blanton said. “Everybody has signed off on the permit, so once we get the permit, we’ll be able to get the check from the county for the grant we applied to. Once we get the check from the county, we can purchase the cabins. Once we purchase cabins, they can ship them. Once they get shipped, we can build them and then we can get people inside.”
The sleeping cabins will be located at the organization’s Compass Station, which is why they are calling it Compass Commons.
Shoreline Community Services offers four programs.There is the Compass Station, a volunteer community outreach program, a medical respite program and an employment program. Blanton said their goal is not just to be a service provider, but to connect people in the community to service providers.
According to Blanton, the Compass Station is the biggest program. This drop-in resource center at 1004 Chalcedony St. in Pacific Beach for unsheltered people is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is where unhoused and unsheltered individuals can stop by for access to day-to-day services like laundry, showers, transportation, tax and legal assistance, document recovery, benefit enrollment assistance, mail, veterans’ benefit assistance and access to technology.
Before the Compass Station in Pacific Beach opened in June 2022, Blanton said many people went to the station in East Village. However, she said many of the people in Pacific Beach who needed aid were not able to travel downtown. This location was created to provide access to those people.
Because some people choose not to come to the Compass Station, Shoreline Community Services also provides a volunteer outreach program that sends community members into different areas to connect with others and build trusting relationships.
“They’re like ambassadors of Shoreline, letting folks know that when they’re ready, that we want them to know where they can go for help,” Blanton said.
Their medical respite hotel program provides housing for individuals after hospital visits for up to three days.
The fourth program, Shoreline’s Community Care employment program, hires individuals on the street to do jobs like street cleaning, sidewalk sweeping, graffiti removal, landscaping, trash removal, and custodial and janitorial work.
According to Blanton, it’s not just a job, it’s a holistic program. Those participating are required to meet with a case manager who helps make plans for the future, and move individuals into a state of self-sufficiency.
Individuals who are actively working and contributing to the neighborhood through Shoreline’s Community Care program will be given the opportunity to stay in the sleeping cabins once they are available.
“I’m happy that we’re here to provide those services for people, but sadly, the problem’s not going away,” Blanton said. “For example, when we first opened the Compass Station we were seeing like 20 to 30 people a day, maybe, and now we’re seeing between 70 and 85 people.”
Blanton said she is proud that the organization has been able to continue serving the community while maintaining roughly the same size staff over the years.
“The support that we get from the community is outrageous,” Blanton said. “We had almost 6,000 volunteer hours last year, and over 100 people helping. It’s not just the volunteers who come here, but it’s local businesses who are involved in what we’re doing, it’s the faith communities who are involved and other nonprofits. It takes all of us. We’ve really pulled our neighborhood together.”
Donations from the Black Tie Bingo event will go directly toward supporting Shoreline Community Services’ new housing project at the compass station.
To learn more about Shoreline Community Services, visit shorelinecs.org.
Want to go?
Black Tie Bingo Fundraiser
When: 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, April 17
Where: Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa, 3999 Mission Blvd.
Cost: $175 for standard admission, $250 for a VIP ticket and $2,500 for a benefactor table package (includes 10 tickets)
Where to buy: tinyurl.com/BlackTieBingo26
Good to know: Donations to Shoreline Community Services can also be made when purchasing tickets.