Since the winter season of 2018, Bellarmine has been a participant in a special program known as Silicon Valley Safe Park (SVSP), a network of faith-based communities that provides a safe place for guests to park their vehicle and sleep overnight. Bellarmine again this winter will host a Safe Park from January 10 to February 28 in a designated parking lot on its campus.
All houseless participants with the SVSP program are pre-screened by Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment, an organization that provides ongoing case management to help guests stabilize their lives and move forward to better life situations. Under the supervision of the school’s Christian Service Program (CSP), Bellarmine provides its guests with breakfast burritos and coffee on weekday mornings, and students and faculty serve and join guests for dinner each Thursday evening.
On Monday, January 10, guests will check-in between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. The normal daily check-in/check-out schedule is as follows: Monday 9:00 p.m. to Tuesday 6:45 a.m.; Tuesday 9:00 p.m. to Wednesday 6:45 a.m.; Wednesday 9:00 p.m. to Thursday 6:45 a.m.; Thursday 7:00 p.m. to Friday 6:45 a.m.; Friday 9:00 p.m. to Saturday 8:00 a.m.; Saturday 9:00 p.m. to Sunday 8:00 a.m.; Sunday 7:00 p.m. to Monday 6:45 a.m.
The maximum number of vehicles allowed is 15, which has not been reached in prior years. Last year, eight guests and eight vehicles were involved in the program. The previous year there were nine guests and eight vehicles. Bellarmine’s Safe Park program will continue to follow the most up to date Santa Clara County pandemic-related health guidelines and safety protocols.
According to Ms. Anne Maloney, director of Bellarmine’s Christian Service Program, during the past four years, Bellarmine has had zero negative incidents with its Safe Park guests, which is attributed to the fact that all guests have adhered to requests to respect themselves, to respect other guests, and to respect the Bellarmine community and grounds.