Caryn Blanton, executive director of Shoreline Community Services in Pacific Beach, was honored with a state proclamation at The Compass Station on Aug. 22.
“Caryn Blanton has the distinguished honor of being the 2024 Woman of the Year for Assembly District 77,” said Assemblymember Tasha Boerner’s senior field representative, Andres Geurts-Barreto at the homelessness services center. “Caryn has done amazing work here in the community.’
Added Geurts-Barreto: “I’d like to thank you personally for being a wonderful community member and being a bedrock of this community. I’ve been in PB for 34 years now. I grew up here and saw this area change. I’ve seen the hard work that’s been done here and would just like to present this resolution on behalf of the Assembly of the State of California.”
“The only words that I have to say is, ‘This doesn’t happen by one person doing it,’” said Blanton adding, “The one thing I’ve learned in all of my leadership, and all of the years that I’ve been doing this kind of work, is that you have to surround yourself by really good people. I have an amazing staff and amazing volunteers. I have all of you (unsheltered neighbors) partake in our services, and service providers that make sure that you get what you need.”
PB-based Shoreline Community Services works to match up unsheltered individuals with wrap-around services provided at The Compass Station, a drop-in resource center at 1004 Chalcedony St. “Our vision at Shoreline is to create an interdependent neighborhood with one common goal: a safe and thriving neighborhood for everyone,” said Blanton, who’s worked for 20-plus years in community development, mostly with marginalized populations including 10 years with Pacific Beach’s homeless. “We focus on making sure that the most vulnerable among us, right now the homeless, are taken care of with great compassion and equity.”
The Compass Station, an all-purpose resource center for the unhoused offering numerous services under one roof, is a collaboration between nonprofit Shoreline Community Services and two Pacific Beach churches – Christ Lutheran Church, and St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea. It was officially dedicated at 1004 Chalcedony St. in April 2022.
Compass Station for July:
920 – Guest visits
153 – Loads of laundry
90 – Showers
200 – Receiving mail
19 – IDs
8 – Birth certificates
12 – County benefits
38 – PATH (housing navigation)
27 – Bus passes
33 – Nurse appointments
3 – Detox/substance use services
Recent Update for the Community Care Crew: SCS’s employment program offers part-time work doing street cleaning, pressure washing, janitorial/custodial work and event set-up/take down.
6 – Crew members
9 – Business contracts
SCS is participating in San Diego Gives on Sept. 5. This is a chance to rally the community and raise vital funds to support SCS programs for unsheltered individuals and families in San Diego. Pre-giving has already begun at https://bit.ly/Shoreline-SD-Gives.
