Meet Caryn Blanton Executive Director | Executive Director & Community Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Caryn Blanton Executive Director and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Caryn Blanton, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
The most important lesson I’ve learned from my career is that I can’t do it alone. I may have some skill, education, experience, natural gifting and commitment but if I don’t have other people on the journey with me, nothing is going to work. I think it can be easy to insulate from what might be happening around me – to withdraw into the security of what is comfortable – but if I’m not engaged with others, their perspective, their ideas, I’m definitely going to miss something.

Doing community work can be tricky, messy even! Opening up and hearing about alternative methods and solutions isn’t always easy. If I simply assume there is a certain or correct way of approaching an issue, without getting input from others, we are all short-changed.

Our model at Shoreline Community Services is to collaborate with Community Partners and Community Resource Providers who are experts in their fields. We serve as the bridge between those who are in need and those who can address the need. Right now, our focus is on the most vulnerable population among us, those who are unsheltered. We listen to their stories and ask what they want/need. Then we seek out the partners and providers who are highly knowledgable with the issues of homelessness so they can give the best service possible. With open communication between those we serve and those providing services, this has been working well. Let’s say we solve the challenge of homelessness in the Central Beach Area (that’s our mission), we would connect with the next most vulnerable population of people, listen to their stories and their needs and find experts who know the best ways to walk with them on their journeys.

Our vision statement says, “We seek to create an interdependent community aligned with a common goal — a thriving, safe and welcoming neighborhood for everyone!” That won’t happen until we’re willing to listen to each other without judgement and offer positive support as we work together.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I think what makes us unique in the work we’re doing around the issues of homelessness is that we have decided, as a community, that we are not willing to wait for others to come in and fix the problem in our neighborhood. We are working together to come up with ideas that work for us and our neighbors – housed and unhoused alike. At the beginning, we realized that serving meals and handing out hygiene kits were not answers to the issues. These are relief services. In and of themselves, they don’t solve the problem. Yes, people need to eat. Yes, people need shampoo and toothpaste. But unless those are combined with other resources and services that address the root issues, they don’t solve the problem.

We came up with the idea of bringing existing resources that were only offered Downtown or in the East Village, here to the Central Beach Area. The County, PATH, Family Health Centers, Stepping Stone, Think Dignity, the Salvation Army and the Veteran’s Administration made themselves available to us and we began creating relationships. We were having representatives meet us at some of the local meal services but it became obvious that we needed a brick and mortar building where we could have people meet. The Compass Station was born and in May 2022 we opened our doors to this local drop-in resource center. Since then we’ve had nearly 9000 visits from unsheltered neighbors, helped connect 233 of them with county and medical benefits, recovered 167 personal documents such as birth certificates and ID cards, facilitated 10 family reunifications, and coordinated 137 housing connections. Additionally, there were 443 nurses appointments, and 205 guests utilized mail services. Currently, 9 service agencies meet clients at on site and we have around 40 community volunteers that show up to make sure things run smoothly each day.

Shoreline also has a team of trained volunteers that go out in our van several times a week to meet people where they are on the street. We want those folks who are not coming in for services to know that they have access when they’re ready. The team builds relationships, trust and support to help break down some of the barriers that keep them on the street. Shoreline also offers emergency respite hotel rooms for people who are leaving the hospital after a surgery or extended stay. This gives them a place to rest in a safe and comfortable place before returning to the street.

I’m so proud of the work we’re doing at Shoreline Community Services! There is no other community that offers the set of programming that we do. Many other neighborhoods have contacted us to see what it would take to duplicate it in their neighborhood. That’s a tough one! It’s taken more than seven years of working together, trial and error and listening to all of our community members, businesses, faith communities, the City, the County and other organizations. Then there needs to be people who are willing to do the hard work to bring the ideas to reality. We’ve done that and I couldn’t be prouder.

Last year a group of local leaders came together to discuss the possibility of putting some of our unhoused neighbors to work doing street cleaning, graffiti removal, light landscaping, janitorial/custodial work and event set-up/take down. We brought the idea to our unhoused neighbors and they thought it had great potential. The fact of the matter is that most people ages 25 – 54 who are living outside do not qualify for transitional housing unless they’re working, receiving an income. We’ve done some fundraising and with the help of our Community Partners and Community Members, we will be launching the Community Care Crew employment program in July! People will be working, getting case management, job readiness training, career guidance and hopefully, workforce housing. This will be a win-win-win for our community. The neighborhood wins because our community is kept clean and beautiful. The Crew Members win because they are offered the opportunity to serve the community through meaningful, paid jobs. Shoreline stakeholders win because they are seeing transformation in individuals and in the community. I think this is a beautiful example of our motto – #harnessingthepowerofcommunityrelationships

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Of course, I’d want them to get up-close-and-personal with our beach community! Need to experience the coastal beaches in Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla but also the bay and the harbors! So many places to get a great cup of coffee – the Olive Cafe, Kono’s, La Clochette, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters. For a beer in a dive-y bar – I’d take them to the Open Bar, The Pennant or PB Pub. Vallarta Express, PB Fish Shop, Miss B’s Coconut Club and Beaumont’s are a few of my favorite spots to grab a bite. Evening cocktails at The Catamaran or The Waterbar for sunsets. Some great parks to hang out – La Jolla Cove, Kate Sessions and the park at Law St. Beach. If we were to venture out of the beach area…Balboa Park, Padre Stadium, Shelter Island, Little Italy, Coronado, Seaport Village…so many amazing places to go!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely want to thank our Central Beach Community and our Community Resource Partners. These are the residents, local businesses and organizations, faith communities and local government agencies that come alongside of us to make our work possible.

Website: www.shorelinecs.org

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