Marin Organizing Committee Credited with Creating REST and for Building Power to Expand It

42 churches, synagogues and nonprofits will participate in the Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (REST) this year, providing temporary shelter as well as meals shared between providers and homeless participants. The Marin Independent Journal credits the Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) for establishing the program nine years ago and for continuing to building power to expand its reach.

Says leader Pat Langley, a parishioner at St. Anselm Church in Ross, “We haven’t run out of gas!” Langley explained that just this year, MOC signed up 8,500 Marin residents who support the creation of a new year-round shelter for the homeless. Leaders furthermore secured, through non-partisan accountability assemblies, pledges of support from Dennis Rodoni, who was elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 8, and supervisors Kate Sears and Katie Rice, who secured re-election in June.

The search for a politically viable site for year-round housing remains strong.

[Photo Credit: Jocelyn Knight, Marin Independent Journal]

Marin’s Homeless Thankful for Shelter Program, Now in its Ninth Year, Marin Independent Journal [pdf]

Marin IJ Editorial: REST Shelter is Up and Running Again, Marin Independent Journal