Area ministry works to feed, help homeless off the streets in Citrus Heights

By Mike Hazlip—
For more than a decade, The Way Ministries has worked in and around Citrus Heights to feed those in need and help people experiencing homelessness transition into a more stable life.

The ministry meets Friday nights at Crossroads Christian Fellowship on Dewey Drive and also has a donation center next to Hall’s Furniture on Mariposa Avenue.

Patrick Miller, one of the ministry’s leaders, spoke with The Sentinel last month at a gathering to distribute food and supplies to people living in the green space behind the Costco and Walmart stores on Auburn Boulevard. He said The Way Ministries work with the Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) and the Citrus Heights navigator to check in on homeless people.

The Way works closely with Grace House, a sober living facility near Mercy San Juan that helps individuals integrate back into society. Miller said The Way and Grace House operate as nonprofit ministries and share many of the same staff and volunteers, but are separate entities.

“The majority of people who come to us deal with both mental health and substance abuse issues,” Miller said. “It’s called dual diagnosis, and you really can’t treat the one without the other.”

Grace House operates a men’s home with 18 beds, a women’s home with six beds, and a transitional house for men with six beds. The facilities are completely clean and sober, he said.

Kathilynn Carpenter, who serves on the Citrus Heights HART leadership board, said her organization has sponsored guests at Grace House as well as at another transitional house in Carmichael. She said HART has had “good success with both.”

While the facilities are just outside of the boundaries of Citrus Heights, many of the people coming to the ministry have been on the streets of Citrus Heights for years. They have separated themselves from society, and The Way helps them come back and reintegrate with society, Miller said.

“Our purpose for being on the street is not to enable people to stay on the street, but to provide a way off the street,” he said.

While Miller appreciates the support from some organizations that serve food and supplies, he says they often do not have the resources to take people off the street.

Rhonda Sandoval oversees Grace House, and she said rules are in place to encourage residents to develop an internal sense of self-esteem. Sandoval said she won’t ask anything of the residents that she is not willing to do herself, and can empathize with the men and women at Grace House.

Men and women coming to Grace House go through a six to nine month detox period, and those coming into the program also go through a blackout from mobile devices that can last two to four weeks.

Miller said those whom The Way and Grace House work with have to desire to change in their lives, and that can take a period of years.

“Many of these folks we work with for three, four, or five years before they’ve had enough,” Miller said. “Then they’ll say to us ‘I’m ready, can you help me out?’“

One of those “folks” is Travis Niles. In an interview with The Sentinel at Grace House last week, Niles said he opted to leave the program of his own accord for over a month before returning, citing personal reasons. Although Niles said he was not homeless for a long period of time, he called his living situation “unstable.”

Other Grace House residents also said it’s not uncommon to see people leave, only to come back later seeking stability.

Sandoval said she typically sees a sense of gratitude from residents of Grace House in the first few days after their arrival, followed by a period of resistance to the rules before they finally accept the lifestyle and become cooperative. One man The Sentinel spoke to said “too strict” rules at Grace House have kept him away from the program.

Grace House residents transitioning out of the program are given a graduation ceremony. Two graduates have gone on to work as navigators in the region, helping other homeless individuals transition off the streets.

Videos of past ceremonies are posted to the ministry’s website. In the most recent ceremony video published from 2017, Sandoval said residents often find faith at Grace House that helps them move forward in their lives.

“That’s a very big part of graduating from Grace House is knowing your identity,” Sandoval said. “Knowing that we are a family and that you can always come home.”

A graduate in the video named “Big Ed” is shown describing the ministries as having “a spectacular program that changes lives” and said “it’s like reaching up to God and giving back to the community.”

Grace House was formerly headed up by Pastor Lonnie Nix until he died after being hospitalized with COVID-19 earlier this year. His brother, Coy Nix, stepped in to lead the ministry, according to an announcement on the organization’s website.

The ministry is operating at a reduced capacity because of the pandemic, and people coming in to the program are tested for the virus.

Grace House is self-funded, with residents paying rent if they can, but Miller said no one is turned away because of a lack of funds. A statement on the organization’s website says participants are expected to pay $600 per month for room and board, but “20% are half-pay, and another 10% are scholarship beds.” Residents stay for up to a year or “until the resident is ready to live safely out on their own,” the website says.

Miller said the organization does not receive any funds from the state, but does accept monetary donations as well as furniture.

Although some have criticized The Way for attracting area homeless through its food distribution, Miller said the ministry has found the best way to help people experiencing homelessness is by showing compassion.

“The best way is to show them that somebody cares,” he said. “Learn their name; when I see people, I know their name, and they’re somebody.”

Editor’s Note: this article is the second part of a series on homelessness in Citrus Heights. To see part one, click here: Living on the streets: Stories of Citrus Heights homeless