Alpha Project Becomes a Bush Point of Light : Volunteerism: The nonprofit relief organization specializes in getting the homeless back on their feet and back into the working world.

Gary Wilson had been living on the streets of East San Diego and, later, El Cajon for more than two months. He was hungry, scared and spent most nights in a boarded-up restaurant.

Sometimes, he said, he feared he would starve to death. On some nights he’d have $2 in his pocket. On others, he had no more than 2 cents.

“I was living on the streets and didn’t know where else to turn. I couldn’t go back to my family,” said Wilson, 34. “They’d think I was on drugs again, and I wasn’t.”

Through a fellow transient, Wilson said, he heard about Alpha Project, a nonprofit relief organization for the homeless.

“Immediately, Alpha Project put money in my pocket, fed me and got me some clothes. They even gave me some counseling, since my mom had just passed away,” Wilson said.

Today he is in his ninth month working in the maintenance department of the Kingston Hotel in downtown San Diego, and has enrolled in classes at City College to learn air conditioning and refrigeration repair.

“I was at a point where I didn’t know what I wanted,” Wilson said. “Some people just want another 50 cents for another drink. I wanted something more. Instead of another brick wall, Alpha Project was there for me.”

On Tuesday, the San Diego Alpha Project was named one of President Bush’s “thousand points of light”--No. 185, to be exact. Point of Light awards are given to groups that exemplify the spirit of American volunteerism, and Alpha Project was cited for its work in securing jobs for the homeless. It is the third organization in San Diego to receive the award.

Robert A. McElroy, the founder of the 4-year-old organization, said his group offers a fresh perspective in dealing with the homeless.

“We strive to help those homeless people who are able to go to work,” he said. “We give them opportunity, and they must provide the desire.”

McElroy said he started the group with the intent of providing more than handouts to homeless in the San Diego area.

“We don’t endorse the way people are addressing the problem of homelessness,” he said, referring to food lines operated by other relief agencies.

“This subsidiary lifestyle doesn’t encourage them to get off the street and work. We believe in accountability,” he said. “The money spent on freeloaders should go to the mentally ill or child care, to those who can’t help themselves.”

The project, whose offices are based in El Cajon, is funded by private foundations and other donors, McElroy said. This year, Alpha Project received $21,000 from four private foundations.

Alpha Project has trained more than 800 people and placed them in full-time employment since opening its doors, McElroy said.

“It’s a struggle for us every day to help individuals get off the streets and find jobs and shelter,” said Sara Hunt, fund-raising director and one of three volunteers helping operate Alpha Project.

“We’re up against the big agencies with tons of money and resources. Sometimes I feel like we’re forgotten,” Hunt said. “Being recognized by the President makes us feel like what we’re doing is worthwhile.”

McElroy estimated that about 25 homeless people participate in the training program at a time, with turnover occurring about every three weeks. Alpha Project offers counseling, legal and medical resources, alcohol and substance-abuse treatment, shelter assistance and referral, and job training.

Participants can also serve on construction crews contracted by private industry to do painting, landscaping and other work. McElroy said the men are paid $6 to $10 an hour.

Point of Light commendations, which have been given out almost daily since November, are awarded to those individuals and groups that have been successful in dealing with the most pressing problems facing society.

The Volunteer Project, a nonprofit group that recruits and trains volunteers for social service projects throughout San Diego, was named the fifth Point of Light by Bush on Nov. 30. The San Diego-based St. Vincent de Paul-Joan Kroc Center for the homeless was awarded the Point of Light on Jan. 16.

Bush established the award after he referred in a 1988 speech at the Republican National Convention to America’s “thousand points of light,” to describe those groups that exemplify how private-sector volunteerism can help solve America’s social problems.