Secret donor gives $500,000 to Cottage Housing agency
By Cynthia Hubert 
chubert@sacbee.com 
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008 | Page 3B 


An anonymous "Secret Santa" has left $500,000 of his estate to Cottage Housing, which shelters and counsels homeless men and women and their children, agency officials announced Tuesday.

Officials identified the donor only as a longtime Sacramento community college instructor and said he and his family want their names kept secret.

The gift has come at a particularly difficult economic time for nonprofit groups and the people they serve, said Cottage Housing director Robert Tobin. 

A recent survey by the Sacramento County Department of Human Services suggests that homelessness increased by more than 20 percent between 2005 and 2008, and budgets are stretched thin.

"Homeless programs are starving," Tobin said. "This gift could not have come at a better time for us.

"When I first heard about it, I thought someone was kidding me," he said. "This is a Christmas present for the entire community."

Retired Bishop Francis Quinn, who was instrumental in establishing Cottage Housing 10 years ago, said the money will bring the agency closer to its original vision of building 1,000 cottages for homeless people.

In the meantime, Cottage Housing will use part of the bequest to buy holiday gifts for homeless families, and to buy new clothing for men and women who have scheduled job interviews.

"At a time when many charities are receiving fewer donations and scaling back programs, we are blessed to be able to do even more good just when the community needs it most," Quinn said.

Cottage Housing has 241 residential units within its Quinn Cottages and Serna Village communities and will apply the bequest toward an effort to double its capacity in coming years, Tobin said. At a news conference Monday, he and other dignitaries including newly elected Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson challenged the community to match the gift and raise another $500,000 toward the effort.

The agency already has received its first large "challenge gift," a $70,000 grant from Sutter Health Foundation, Tobin said.

Cottage Housing believes it is cheaper and more efficient to provide permanent housing for homeless people rather than allowing them to live on the streets or in temporary shelters.

The program steers its clients toward programs and services to establish stable lives, so they are less likely to end up in emergency rooms and jails, Tobin said.

Some 80 percent of Cottage Housing's clients "graduate" from its programs with stable incomes, secure housing and freedom from drug and alcohol problems, according to agency officials. 

 
Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.