Tri-Valley Nonprofit Reunites Homeless Man With Family

TRI-VALLEY, CA — For 10 years, Eric was living on the streets. That's how CityServe of the Tri-Valley first met him in Livermore.

But as a result of emergency shelter programs spurred by the pandemic, CityServe said it was able to find him shelter, rekindle a relationship with his daughter and begin the process of transitioning into housed life.

"If it wasn't for [CityServe], I don't know where I'd be," Eric said during the nonprofit's eighth annual Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast, which was livestreamed Monday morning.

Livermore Police Department Homeless Liaison Officer Dave Martin said during the event that they had always known Eric, who is in his 60s, to be friendly and cooperative, but he was often intoxicated.

"We knew we had to find a way to get him off the streets, or he was going to self-destruct," Martin said.

To Eric, the bus shelter was "the safest place for me to be," he said.

In the months after CityServe first encountered Eric, volunteers would work to show him a new way of life. They would help him obtain identification, get bloodwork and find a four-walled place to call home.

"This one was someone that really wanted to take steps forward," CEO Christine Beitsch-Bahmani previously told Patch.

Some things fell into place, while others took time and patience.

When the pandemic began, CityServe worked with local cities to place homeless residents in emergency shelters. The nonprofit recalled Eric and was able to place him in a Pleasanton hotel, but the closure of other services made it difficult to help him work through other issues, such as receiving an identification card, Beitsch-Bahmani said.

CityServe worked with Eric to teach him to do laundry, cook and get ready to transition into housing. They helped Eric work through mental health struggles and reconcile with his daughter, she said.

Now, Eric said Monday, he has a place to eat, lay his head and "concentrate on the future."

"Without CityServe's volunteers, basically I would be sunk," he said. "They came and rescued me from obscurity."

CityServe continues to recruit volunteers and said it is especially in need of COVID-19 crisis volunteers to help perform critical duties such as food deliveries, shelter work, and outreach and education. Learn how to get involved with the organization here.

Watch the full CityServe of the Tri-Valley prayer breakfast event here and learn how to donate here.