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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thedialog.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/03141718\/gary-food-scaled.jpg\" "\\"gary")
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It\u2019s the stroke of noon at the stately, stand-alone house at the corner of Broad and Mulberry in the town of Milton in Kent County, Delaware.<\/p>\n
Joe and Jim and other residents stream through the door ready for lunch.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re home, at least for now.<\/p>\n
Home is Casa San Francisco,<\/a> a sparkling clean place for the homeless run by Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Wilmington.<\/a>\u00a0Started in 1981 by Franciscan nuns, Casa was geared to assist mostly Hispanic migrants who came to Milton seeking work in the primarily rural setting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe deal mostly with the chronic homeless,\u201d said staff member Dion Murphy. \u201cWe take anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Needs change all the time and this summer has proven to be a time when many people are struggling, some because of recent developments, others that often find themselves in desperate straits no matter the current economic climate.<\/p>\n Contributing factors that almost never go away are unemployment, mental and physical illnesses, various psychiatric diagnoses that have been treated or not treated.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they arrive here, they are out of their meds, so we help them to refill their prescriptions, hook them up with a provider to do that,\u201d said Gary Belkot, property manager at the facility. \u201cAn increasing number of our residents are older, in their 60s and 70s.\u201d<\/p>\n The programs provided are for people who are residents for 30- to 90-days during which time they get case management services and other help.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat that looks like is making a surgical strike into the life of that person right now,\u201d Belkot said. \u201cIf they come here and they might need psych meds, we can do that. That\u2019s the first step to stability. If they need a driver\u2019s license, help getting on Medicaid, Medicare, disability, we help with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Some have drug or alcohol problems and need rehabilitation. The facility employees help with job resources, discounted bus passes and try to help with their most presenting need at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a low barrier shelter regardless of their condition, their circumstances,\u201d Belkot said.<\/p>\n For the shelter, Casa gets money from the state, emergency transitional housing, grant-in-aid money. Whatever more is needed to cover the difference often comes from the Diocese of Wilmington Faith and Charity Catholic Appeal, which are contributions from local donors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get a lot of support from individual donors,\u201d Belkot said. Individual donations can range from $25 to $2,500, and there are many repeat donors, he said. Casa also benefits from support of neighboring parishes of St. Jude in Lewes, St. Ann in Bethany Beach, St. Edmond in Rehoboth Beach and others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe wider community also volunteers to prepare meals for us,\u201d Belkot said. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge help, not just in terms of labor, but also cost.\u201d<\/p>\n Staff members are thankful that every day someone is dropping off dinner. The facility has a seven-person staff and volunteers who work at the front desk.<\/p>\n Casa has been around 45 years, Belkot said. \u201cThe whole homeless dynamic has really changed since that time. Now, people from all walks of life are homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n An emergency food program enables staff to provide food. \u201cIt happens all the time,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n Vicky Heher is a case manager who has seen her share of needy people come through the doors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re mostly full,\u201d she said. The facility has 12 beds for women and men in separate areas, emergency food, brown bag program and a senior program.<\/p>\n She said many people are reluctant. \u201cA lot of those people live in the woods and in the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n Heher has also seen her share of success stories.<\/p>\n One woman was at Casa about six weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin three days she was employed. And that\u2019s going through mental health issues, too, and sobriety. She got a full-time job at Royal Farms and went into a transitional housing program. Waiting list can be six years for permanent housing.\u201d<\/p>\n Heher herself was homeless 30 years ago. She believes the housing crisis has become worse.<\/p>\n Murphy is a direct staff supervisor at Casa San Francisco. He has come to know some repeat customers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get some recycled,\u201d he said. \u201cThey leave and come back. Willing to be here doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re willing to be helped. They come, but they don\u2019t really want to be helped. They want the time and then they\u2019ll go to the next place. They\u2019ll use the system. Some of them may be gone a short time, some will be gone for a while, but they\u2019ll be back because they have no drive to manage their lives in a way of getting placed, getting a job.\u201d<\/p>\n Murphy also says he has seen plenty of success stories.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had one young lady and her son, who was on the mental health spectrum,\u201d he said. \u201cThey had a background of domestic violence, so we got them placed.\u201d<\/p>\n The staff in Milton encounters all kinds of circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some people, the idea that a job, a house, a relationship, a car \u2026\u00a0 that\u2019s somebody else, that\u2019s not for me,\u201d Belkot said. \u201cBecause they have been habituated to a homeless lifestyle for so long that they can\u2019t imagine \u2026 it would be like a shock to be able to turn their life around.\u201d<\/p>\n Casa staff members often encounter a full house. Earlier this summer, they were mostly full, Heher said. She does her best to find other places to send them.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople from all walks of life are homeless, whereas anecdotally, what I understand what this place used to be was for the guy who was going through a divorce or lost a job or got thrown out of the house or was just between difficult situations and now it\u2019s become much more dire,\u201d Belkot said.<\/p>\n The costs of housing keeps people on the street, Heher said<\/p>\n \u201cThe prices have doubled since before COVID. People could get an apartment \u2026\u2029 for $750. Now they want $1,500 or more.\u201d<\/p>\n Sterotypes don\u2019t help, Belkot said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a difficult thing for those of us who work in this kind of service work is the frustration we feel when many in the general population still think that people who are experiencing homelessness, it\u2019s just because they\u2019re too lazy to go get a job,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s like they honk their horn at the guy who\u2019s on Rt. 1 or anywhere these days with a sign that says \u2018homeless.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s trauma,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n And getting past the trauma can require faith. But personal faith isn\u2019t required for someone to get help here.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had Muslims, Wiccan, atheist, Catholics, Jews, protestants, nonbelievers,\u201d Belkot said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Murphy said clients often are shocked by the level of service they get at Casa.<\/p>\n \u201cThey come in and after they get that brief little tour, they\u2019re like \u2018this is really nice,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Heher describes one of their oldest clients.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018I didn\u2019t know anything about this place. And I grew up here. And I can\u2019t believe how nice you all are to us here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Heher cites the Golden Rule. \u201cI treat them how I\u2019d like to be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n Clients have to be up and ready for the day by 8 a.m. and must be in in the house by 9 p.m. It\u2019s part of getting them ready to learn a routine.<\/p>\n \u201cLights are out at 11 o\u2019clock,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I think that some of the things that bring us success lies here,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have to do is help manage their day and say, \u2018Hey, you know, this is rules, you got to make a bed. You got to keep it clean.\u2019\u00a0 I give them expectations. \u2018Hey, you need to hang this up, wet towels don\u2019t go in bed, don\u2019t go on the dresser. They go on the hanger. They go over here.\u2019 This is what the expectations are.\u2029 And then help them with that.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a learning process.<\/p>\n \u201cDion, one day, he just took this one client and took him to a room where everything looked good,\u201d Heher said \u201cSo he could see it. \u2018You have to show me.\u2019 And that\u2019s what he did. He said, \u2018this is how your room should look.\u2019 And the guy was like, \u2018OK, I get it. I get it now.\u2019 And no more problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Finished with lunch, the residents young and old clean up after themselves and head back out to continue their day. Some will sit by the river, go to the library or look for work or services that will help them. And when the afternoon ends, they\u2019ll go back to a warm meal and clean bed at Casa San Francisco.<\/p>\n Home, for now.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>