Nonprofit on San Mateo County coast helps unhoused with job training
More than 2,000 people in San Mateo County are living with homelessness, according to the latest annual count. That's an 18% increase over the last few years.
A nonprofit on the county's coast is working to bring those numbers down.
As people learn how to plant seeds to grow lettuce, Eric Debode is sowing seeds of hope in their lives.
"Each person is so interesting, so resilient, so strong, so full of potential," DeBode said.
He helps people living with homelessness get back on their feet through Abundant Grace Coastside Worker, the nonprofit he started 10 years ago in Half Moon Bay.
"I want people to feel like they're valuable, they're worth something and they have a future," DeBode explained.
His nonprofit partners with Potrero Nuevo Farm south of Half Moon Bay in a workforce development program.
Unsheltered people learn how to plant, tend and harvest fruits and vegetables. They give away what they grow; that's 13,000 pounds of organic producer last year distributed to 300 people in need.
One of the workers, Curtis Coutchavlis, said serving others gives him a sense of purpose he hasn't felt in a long time.
"That gives you a reason to be proud. And then working on a farm, growing vegetables, and being able to give that to other folks, it helps a lot," Coutchavlis said.
DeBode helps about 125 unhoused people a year develop sense of self-confidence and community.
While some work on the farm, others do coastal cleanups. The cleanup crews picked up some 140,000 pounds of trash every year.
They earn a stipend for their four-day work week, and they gain experience that's helped a dozen people last year land jobs outside the nonprofit.
DeBode also supplies a home base, Abundant Grace's center in Half Moon Bay, that includes showers, laundry, kitchen, food, clothing and support for much more.
"Everyone's on a journey of healing and wholeness in their life, whether that's around housing or employment, sobriety, mental and physical health. Those are all the issues that are on the table here," he told CBS News Bay Area.
Coutchavlis said his whole life has changed when he met DeBode. He was living in his car, and DeBode and helped him find work, housing and hope.
"I'm grateful to him because he saved my life. I was about ready to throw in the towel because I had nowhere to go," Coutchavlis said.
Potrero Nuevo Farm manager Suzie Trexler said DeBode and Abundant Grace nurture folks with the supportive soil they need to bloom.
"He just wants to help people succeed and grow and love themselves and so he loves people unconditionally and it's a beautiful thing that's really rare to see in action," Trexler said.
"It makes me really happy, particularly when people find housing or a job or get sober. They really make an important change for their health and their well-being," DeBode said.
For giving San Mateo County's unhoused community work and support through Abundant Grace Coastside Worker, this week's CBS News Bay Area Icon Award goes to Eric DeBode.
