Shelter Network, in conjunction with the City of San Mateo, hosted a Grand Opening for the Vendome on May 12. The Vendome is a SRO (single resident occupancy) that has traditionally been an all male site. At this point, the hotel is not only filled to capacity but they also have three new female residents. The county of San Mateo put over a million dollars into renovating this historic 1940’s hotel to create the facility. With the help of Shelter Network, the Vendome will provide housing and support services that create opportunities for homeless individuals to re-establish self-sufficiency and to return to permanent homes of their own. Sean Rosas attended the open house and shares his thoughts on the Grand Opening of the Vendome.

What an amazing open house! It was such a difference going back to the Vendome Hotel that I didn’t recognize it. It is so modern with new appliances, new IKEA furniture--put together by salesforce.com employees, and the hotel was built with the environment in mind. It is already filled to capacity with 20 residents. One female resident had been living on the streets for 20 years and this is her first home. Another resident just took his first hot shower in over 17 years. In addition, this site has an elevator that enables homeless with disabilities a place to live. The target goal of the Vendome program is to provide housing to individuals that suffer from chronic homelessness.

Lynnelle Bilsey , Volunteer Manager, Shelter Network expressed her sincere appreciation for the hard work of our salesforce.com employees and believes that they were a key ingredient in Shelter Network’s success demonstrating the SRO’s (single resident occupancy) sustainability and gaining funding from the City of San Mateo to remodel the shelter. Through our volunteer efforts (painting, cleaning, organizing, and gardening) we helped to make Vendome Hotel a livable space for the residents and helped to demonstrate that the current residents could live there and be successful in Shelter Network’s program. Since the start of our relationship we have volunteered over 1000 hours with Shelter Network at all of their sites; Redwood Family House, Maple Street Shelter, First Steps for Families, Family Crossroads, and Vendome Hotel.