Good Samaritan Shelter - Santa Maria, California

Walter P.

An incredibly stupid operation that keeps people dependent. Lots of paid employees, now they are in Santa Barbara doing the same thing. No formal education whatsoever

Angelina J.

I am very disappointed with gss. I talked to Kiersten, Hector and Layne only to be ignored. I told them how I have homeless family members that I am trying to advocate for and help. Some of them suffer addiction or mental illness. And one was at the shelter in 2024 and they did not help him get any mental health services or connect to housing services. And kicked him out and is on the streets again. Then I told them he still needs help and that I have nieces who need help and they just ignored me. And my family member went there for help on his own asking for help and they ignore him and send him away and keep saying no bed available. And Hope Village too. It is really sad and should not be like this. They are human beings who need help!! I am not a therapist or drug counselor. Some family members can only do so much to help their loved ones. The federal government and state government is giving aid to shelters to help and they should do their job. Where is the integrity

Salvador

I wanted to say that the Santa Maria Shelter has helped me in my most difficult of time and being honest with them has opened doors for me and those like myself who are truly trying to get their lives back together. I thank them and the community members and businesses who go out of their busy lives to help those in need like myself. I am truly grateful and appreciative.
THANK YOU 🙂

Rita H.

Staff is unprofessional at best, malicious and petty at worst. Even the "good" staff members discriminate against or look down upon homeless people. April in particular really enjoys condescending to clients, and cannot be trusted to complete the simplest requests without first disrespecting the client. If you have any accomodations needed, not only will they not be met(after you try to get approved before hand) but you will also be talked to as though you are worthless. Case managers are even worse. Yolanda shows no professional attitude: she either acts as your best friend or talks to you like a middle school bully. Janie is useless and incompetent, and frequently issues notices to clients with incorrect or outdated information and typos. All of them make false promises on housing opportunities and show no sympathy when those promises fall through. But if the client doesn't deliver on their "promises" they will not be understanding because:
They do not care, at all, about homeless people.

Alpha B.

Nicole was an absolute monster. I remember how she treated me so bad and how I was starved for a couple of weeks I have photos of my shelf being empty and everyone else having food and I remember there is one day that one of the ladies at the Shelter offered to get me some food cause she saw that my cubby was empty, and Nicole was disgusting enough to say something in a group meeting saying that people were panhandling for food I was never panhandling for food. I was starving and someone Me, Food Nicole is a monster. Do not donate to the shelter at all. They’re disgusting.

Marcie B.

It's degradation and pretty much prison for families. RUN don't walk out of there. 1 out of 30 may actually get help from staff here. You have a better chance, educating yourself, getting your life organized, and frankly coughing up money that life will demand from you. I've gotten on my feet 2x in 5 years. Completely crazy circumstances can happen to ANYONE. There's various paths to a roof over your head and not all work for everyone. Don't count on these ppl, they're demeaning and will make you feel worse for just being there. Good luck.

Asher A.

You have to leave the shelter from around 8am to 4:30pm, rain or shine (or freezing cold). If you have a place you can go in the daytime and you can get there without a problem, then no worries. Most people don't have that and I thought it was terrible to put people out in all weather.

There can be good and bad days with staff. The real issue, in my opinion, isn't how good or bad a shelter is but how invested you are in moving on and getting out of them. Unless you don't mind the inevitable roller coaster ride you'll be on living around people you don't know and having no privacy, you should formulate a plan as soon as you get into a shelter and work hard at it every day until you can move on.

Antony S.

Dropped off food donations. I wasn't sure where the main entrance was but found it. The gentleman at the desk was very nice and appreciated the donation. The grounds we're clean, people were friendly and helpful. I've seen a few shelters, even stayed in one before getting housed. This campus is amazing and surprisingly large and well kept despite being in a small City. Keep up the good work and good fight.