History of the Santa Barbara Homeless Foot Washing

Some Thoughts on the History of the Santa Barbara Homeless Foot Washing

by Wayne Mellinger, Ph.D.

As I walk around downtown Santa Barbara, I see confusion, pain and injustice on every block. This leads me to ask myself, why all this suffering? It it just poor personal choices -- individuals making bad judgments? Or are there societal structures at work –systems of oppression which favor the few and hold down the many? In my essay “The Revolving Door”, which appeared in this blog on April 2, 2011, I discussed some of the structural barriers that keep some people with mental health challenges on the streets.

To live with integrity, I hope to adhere to sets of values which I use in all the walks of my life. The care and sensitivity I show the world in my professional life should be the same I show in my informal life. The respect I show to the successful business person should be the same as I show the man in disheveled clothes, eyes glazed over with drink, stumbling toward me asking for a quarter.

There are times when I fail to act this way. One Saturday morning in the winter of 2008 while riding e my bike from Stearns Wharf to the bird refuge, I noticed all the happy people enjoying a pleasant day in the sun. Joggers, parents with strollers, and tourists on rented bikes made the bike path particularly crowded that day. I remember the volleyball courts filled with college kids and two groups of Latino men having a soccer game.

As I walked around the bird refuge afterwards reflecting on my morning ride, I realized that there were many people that I had failed to notice. As a street outreach worker I had previously met many people who camped out at the dunes between the Cabrillo Bathhouse and the public restrooms. I had learned that many of these folks were not doing so well and tended to avoid going to the shelters or other serving-providing agencies. Overrun by trauma or the stress of living on the streets, or overcome with emotional anguish and self-medicating with various substances, some of them carved out a meager existence in these mounds of sand, semi-hidden from the world.

I wondered whether or not anyone was in the dunes on this day, and decided to look more closely on my way back.. Walking my bike along that stretch of Chase Palm Park., I now counted eleven people who seemed to be camped out at the beach and clearly visible from the bike path. Several of these people I had even met before doing my outreach work.

Reflecting further on my morning ride, I wondered about how often those who are housed and doing relatively well just fail to notice those around us who are suffering and living on the streets. If I as a street outreach worker could simply “not see” these folks, I imagined that many others might also not see them. The fast pace of modern life has created blasé attitudes and selective perceptions in which we almost unknowingly avoid noticing those who are suffering on the streets. I wondered what could be done to snap us out of our slumber so that we might more clearly see the suffering all around us.

The idea of having a foot washing for our neighbors on the streets came out of this morning bike ride and the ensuing reflection. I decided to create an event that would alter the way that “housed” people perceive those without housing.

The week after I had this idea I shared it with my colleague Lynnelle Williams, the director of WillBridge of Santa Barbara, a non-profit I worked with helping “chronically homeless” people with mental health challenges transition off the streets. To my surprise, she enthusiastically supported the idea and expressed interest in collaborating with me on the project. Her organizational skills, professional experience and institutional resources have proven to be essential to the success of the Santa Barbara Homeless Foot Washing. On Thursday of this week the fourth annual foot washing was held at the Veteran's Memorial Building, the site of the foot washing since the beginnning.

At the time of the first foot washing in 2008, I drew upon the various social worlds that I was involved with as resources for putting on event, including:

1. WillBridge of Santa Barbara—As just noted above, Lynnelle Williams was the event co-organizer and her staff from WillBridge was essential to every aspect of the event.
2. The Homeless Activist Luncheon – Sponsored by Chuck Blitz and hosted by Cath Webb, this bi-monthly get-together of community activists and service providers provided me with a hospitable setting for learning about homeless issues locally and meeting many of the key players—including the late Roger Heroux (who was then Director of Bring Our Community Home, the county's ten-year plan to end chronic homelessness), County social worker Ken Williams--a 30-year veteran of street outreach, and Dr. Lynne Jahnke—a local physician also active in street outreach who provided medical supervision to the event). These three people and many others from this luncheon attended the first foot washing and gave valuable input and feedback about how to run the event. Others from this luncheon who participated in the first foot washing included Jennifer Faerrez from CARES (our county's mental health outreach providers), Alice Villa-Redit from the Housing Authority, Dana Gamble from Healthcare for the Homeless, Shaw Talley from the Safe Parking Program, and Gary Linker from New Beginnings Counseling Center.
3. Encouraged to attend the event by Gordon Colburn, the head of the City College's Alcohol and Drug Counseling program and by Mimi Doohan, MD, head of the UCSB's Street Health Outreach team, local students made up a large part of the volunteers those first years.

The event reconnects the local community in an intimate and humbling way. The act of washing another's feet transforms both parties immensely. For the volunteers, it re-kindles compassion for some of most weary and displaced people in our city. For the people having their feet, washed it demonstrates that someone really cares. As the two parties bond both are profoundly reminded of the importance of simple acts of kindness.

Through these simple acts the stereotypes that both groups have of each other are broken down. The volunteers reported learning about the wide diversity of people on the streets, including many who work, have families and do not use substances. Those on the streets reported learning that more people deeply care about their plight.

The first year we had about 100 volunteers who served over 250 of our neighbors on the streets. We hoped to help outreach teams and other service-providers to make contact with what has been called “service-resistant” people on the street--often severely traumatized individuals who do not go to the shelters. The courtyard of the Veteran's Memorial Building was filled with over a dozen representatives of agencies offering services to those on the streets.

The first year we received a $3000 grant form The Fund for Santa Barbara, a progressive non-profit committed to financially supporting community organizations concerned with grassroots empowerment. These funds were used to purchase the 250 pairs of footwear we distributed. All those involved in planning and organizing the event volunteered all of our time. While most of the footwear we handed out were sneakers, we made sure that we had work boots, sandals and the type of shoes required for some diabetics. In later years our funds came largely from local religious organizations and other local non-profits, and increasingly from individual supporters.

That first year we arrived at the Veteran's Memorial Building at 7:30am to start setting up. The large auditorium would be the waiting area where breakfast would be served. An adjacent room would house the stations where feet would be washed and where the new shoes distributed). Upon exiting the foot washing area, people would be handed a bag lunch and enter a large courtyard where the various outreach teams had tables and distributed brochures and various types of “care packages” (such as hygiene kits).

We were surprised that there were already people waiting when we got there—some two a half hours before the event was slated to begin. By 9:00 the line of people went down the whole block and almost to Sambo's! It was a hot morning and the crowds, just standing in the sun for over an hour, started to become a bit restless and irritable. Ken Williams wisely suggested that we hand out bottled water and quickly bring people off the streets to wait inside the building. Officer Bob Casey, who then headed the Restorative Policing Team (which I also participated in) provided a police presence for this crowd of close to 300.

That first year I rode by bike all over town and signed people up for the event. I gave them a flyer with the pertinent information and wrote down their names, shoes size and type of footwear that they wanted. I collected over 200 requests from people who promised to attend the event. We were surprised when about half those people did not show up. We decided to hold their shoes until about 1pm and then to give them away to others after that time. In subsequent years we simply used the shoe size distribution ratios from this year as a guide for our buying decisions.

One challenge we faced was the cross purposes for which some people attended the event. The volunteers were often were interested in making a human connection with someone on the street and were often spiritually motivated. While ample people got their feet washed, there were some who wanted to skip ahead and just get a pair of shoes. We wanted to insure that all people who got their feet washed would have shoes, but in the end, we allowed people to just pick up the shoes and leave. Later, as a way to encourage people to get their feet washed we attempted to serve those who only wanted to get shoes after all those who wanted their feet washed were served.

The WillBridge staff has been central to the event's success right from the beginning. Bonnie and Liz made about 800 cookies, as well as working the event itself. Dawn worked the kitchen overseeing the lunches that were handed out. Crystal Murphy, normally with Salvation Army's Hospitality House, managed the whole shoe distribution system. Lynnelle's mom and daughter Kim also worked very hand all through the event.

The foot washing takes place on Maundy Thursday, the day on which, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus washed his disciple's feet. As with other springtime festivals, there is a emphasis on the regenerative powers of rebirth. We hoped to help some people make connections with outreach workers so they could begin the process of getting off the street. The shoes were symbolic of that fresh start we hoped to initiate.

As an interfaith event, we sought to have a diverse range of religious leaders leading prayers every half hour, including Catholic, mainline Protestant, evangelical, Jewish and Unitarian clergy In the third year, Pastor Jon Lemmond from Montecito Covenant Church, instructed volunteers in the art of foot washing, which greatly enhanced the spiritual nature of the event. While amicable chit-chat filled the foot washing room, one could feel the contemplative mood of many washers and their recipients. Some people even broke into tears at the overflowing of love that permeated the event. Surprisingly to me, many people loved washing feet and were reluctant to give their wash station over to another volunteer.

The local media provided excellent coverage of the event, with a front page article in the Daily Sound and an online article in the Independent. Paul Wellman, a photographer for the Independent, has become a fixture that the event over the years and often spends several hours shooting different aspects of the the event.

Several years after the first foot washing, I gave a brief presentation to a community forum sponsored by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) and organized by Maureen Earls. My talk was titled “Creating Faith-based Collaborations for Real Change: The Homeless Foot Washing as an Ideal Type”. In it I considered how some of the ways we organized the Santa Barbara Homeless Foot Washing could be used by others interested in planning outreach events aimed at the homeless. "Ideal type" is a concept that comes from sociology and describes the essential characteristics and elements of the given phenomena, but it is not meant to correspond to all of the characteristics of any one particular case. It is not meant to refer to perfect things, moral ideals nor to statistical averages but rather to stress certain elements common to most cases of the given phenomena.

The following elements from the Foot Washing might be worth holding onto for other faith-based events planned for the homeless and seeking social justice:

1. Attempt to bring about inter-faith programs of action, which involve a wide range of spiritual backgrounds.
2. The core of the event should facilitate people moving forward with their lives and involve the input of street outreach people, social workers and other case managers.
3. While change is the central goal, charity isn’t a bad thing either. Give practical things such as socks, shoes, sleeping bags, etc. Remember many of these people have virtually nothing, and need community support. This is always a good draw to get people into the door.
4. Understand the diversity of types of people on the streets, including street kids who travel around a lot, veterans, poor families, those temporarily out of work, young adults exiting foster care, seniors, those with physical and mental disabilities, those with alcohol and drug issues. It is best to collaborate with experts in several areas of specialty.
5. Go out of your ways to reach out to the service-resistant people who have been on the streets for a long time (chronically homeless). These folks are the most traumatized and the most in need of your support. Those who stay in the shelters are not the entire population.
6. Offer spiritual encouragement and possibilities for spiritual counseling, but do not force religion down anyone’s throat.
7. Involve your parishioners and allow ample opportunity for dialogue. Create environments which can break down stereotypes of “us and them”.
8. Be prepared for people with lots of bags, bicycles, wheelchairs, dogs, etc.
9. Listen to these people. Be present. Recognition, acknowledgment and love are the best things you have to offer.
10.Be prepared for crises of all types. Many of these people are just holding on and might need special care.

Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. is a social justice educator, activist and writer, living in Santa Barbara, CA. He advocates for our neighbors on the streets, for those with mental health challenges and for all who are denied equal access to basic needs or are treated without dignity and respect. He has worked as an Outreach worker / Case Manager / Counselor for WillBridge of Santa Barbara, New Beginnings Counseling Center, The Safe Parking Program, Transition House and Casa Esperanza. His passion is helping chronically homeless and dually diagnosed individuals transition into permanent housing.. He has taught sociology, social psychology and anti-oppression classes at Antioch University Santa Barbara, Ventura College, the Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Berkeley campuses of the University of California and the Fielding Graduate University, He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from UC-Santa Barbara in 1990. He is also a certified substance abuse counselor. He sits on the Board of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) and was appointed to the South Coast Homeless Advisory Committee by Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr..