Sara Rios

Poverello House is a private, nonprofit, nondenominational organization that serves the hungry, the homeless, and the destitute of Fresno, California. Poverello House began officially in 1973, but its history goes back much further. In the turbulent 1960s, a young man named Mike McGarvin was on the fast track to becoming one of the many casualties of the decade. Drugs, alcohol, violence and hopelessness were his daily companions, until he found a place in San Francisco called Poverello House. The priest who ran the coffee house asked Mike to volunteer, and the experience changed his life. Several years later, Mike married and moved to Fresno. He was now a photoengraver, but was searching for a way to repay God for saving his life. The answer came when he noticed homeless people on the streets of Fresno. Mike knew what to do; he would hand out peanut butter sandwiches, talk to people, and let them know someone cared. Poverello House now serves three meals a day, 365 days a year, to anyone in need; offers free medical and dental care through the Holy Cross Clinic; provides showers and laundry services to the homeless; serves as a day shelter and safe haven for people on the streets; houses a 28-bed residential alcohol and drug rehabilitation program, and a five-bed transitional home; distributes free clothing; provides recreation, mail service, transportation, and referral services, and, finally, has a homeless dog kennel for abandoned pets.