San Luis Obispo County group to use $1.5 million bequest to help the homeless

People in San Luis Obispo County are kicking off a campaign to help the homeless.

Two Polish immigrants who were homeless when they arrived in Oceano, recently left $1.5 million to the County Community Foundation in their will.

Now local groups are coming together, deciding how to put that money to good use.

More than a dozen people hit the drawing board this weekend, brainstorming ways to help the homeless in southern San Luis Obispo County.

"How do we make sure there's a hot meal, a place for the homeless to take showers, to do their laundry, do they have a place to take phone calls and try to seek employment," said Janice Fong Wolf, of the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation.

Right now the Prado Day Center serves the homeless in San Luis Obispo and a proposed 200-bed homeless center on South Higuera Street is currently in the works.

However, some say those facilities are not easily accessible to those in the five cities area.

"To be told you have to go to someplace else to get help, it's very hard to get there and you may never," said Valerie Valle, of the Five Cities Homeless Coalition.

That is why one of the ideas at the top of the list is building a one-stop center to serve the homeless in Southern San Luis Obispo County.

One that not only provides shelter and a hot meal, but also partners with local service providers.

"There's a lot of different things to consider and we want to make sure that we consider it all and then come up with the best plan possible and that it's also very feasible and realistic," said Wolf.

The group plans to continue meeting every couple of weeks for the next six months.

It hopes to hold an event sometime soon to share its progress with the community.

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