Sunny Acres

Our number one priority is the health, safety and well being of our residents. We are the only low cost program in the area to provide a real home to adult men and women, as well as couples. Our residents are safe from the elements, and from those who may harm them were they still living in the creek or on the streets. We pride ourselves in the fact that in the past nine years of having hundreds of different people live on this ranch, the only accidents ever suffered were twisted ankles and a smashed thumb.

Most of our residents come to us from the creek, the street, jail or prison. Approximately 40% of our residents are referred to us by governmental agencies - drug & alcohol, parole, probation, jail, mental health, the homeless shelter, and the court system. Because of past incidents in their lives, they suffer a myriad of issues – some have mental health issues and some have physical ailments that preclude them from holding full time jobs. Some are alcoholics and some are drug addicts. The one thing they all have in common is homelessness.

Most of the people who come to us are capable of some task. We find out where their interests lie and offer them training in a new skill – this is how they learn to be responsible for their own lives, and regain their confidence and self-worth. We start out slowly, and work individually with each resident. We work at their level of capability. We teach them how to plant, tend and harvest crops in our new community garden, clerical and administrative skills in our office, or run the chain saw splitting wood, how to cut wine barrels for planters, tend cattle, raise and sell chickens, work on agricultural vehicles and do routine maintenance; we have training in auto body work, or residents can learn to cook in our dining hall, the historical "Dairy Barn," which was used by a local men's group who cooked, ate and met in this very same structure since 1955 - quite a tradition!

Our residents come from all walks of life – we currently have a civil engineer, a certified drug and alcohol counselor, a retired teacher, several veterans of war, carpenters, business owners, farmers and ranchers; we have had an opera singer, paralegal, architects, and managers of local businesses. They are all someone’s mother, father, son or daughter, sister, brother, spouse, or other loved ones.

Those people who come to us and are not physically or mentally capable of working (and who are unable to pay the program fee) live on the ranch, work on their sobriety, participate in the program, and contribute in their own way.

 Our program fee is $300 a month which includes a comfortable warm place with a bed to sleep in, a community room with a television where the residents can spend time together, hot showers and laundry facilities. We offer three healthy meals a day, for those who wish to join the others in our community dining room, at a minimal cost. Some residents work off campus and don’t want to eat in the Dairy Barn. For those who are unable to use the city bus, we provide transportation to medical and counseling appointments, court dates, and other necessary trips.

We take great pride in the fact that our program is self-sustaining - we receive no governmental funding. We sell firewood, wine barrel planters, seasonal produce from our garden, pumpkins, and Christmas trees at the holidays. Our neighbors from across Los Osos Valley Road come down and support our program by purchasing our goods – they oftentimes tell us what a good job we’re doing.

A typical month at Sunny Acres is approximately $1,500 in receipts from our program fees and outside sales. From this we pay expenses - food, utilities, program insurance and stipends for those who wish to work for extra spending money. Only a handful of people are able to pay their program fee from benefits such as Social Security, so most work off the monthly program fee. We obviously operate on a very tight budget.

 Activities include two mandatory meetings a week for all residents – one Alcoholics Anonymous on Tuesday nights, and one Narcotics Anonymous meeting on Thursday nights which allow everyone to share their successes and frustrations. The community at large is welcome to join us at these meetings.

Some of our residents rarely leave the ranch - we have everything they need right here. We have BBQ’s on special occasions; we have outings to the beach and local and out of town car shows; we take hikes up the mountains, go to the movies, and out to restaurants. Some of our residents are interested in obtaining college credits and attend Cuesta College, and we encourage these efforts. We assist in helping them get registered, obtain financial aid, and enroll in classes.

Sunny Acres is fashioned after a very successful and sought-after program in San Francisco called the Delancey Street Foundation. Our organization is about men and women who are ready and willing to become and stay clean and sober. When they come to the ranch, they are all required to fill out the same application and read and sign a contract stating they are willing to put in the hard work it will take to become and stay sober. This effort goes on each and every moment of every day.

 Our program works. Hundreds of people have gone through this program and come out on the other side as fully functioning human beings who are able, once again, to join society. At any given time, 75% of our residents are our own home grown Central Coast citizens. Some of our people just don’t fit into the hustle and bustle of daily life in the outside world anymore, and will never leave the ranch. We are on no timetable here…some folks stay months, some stay years. They are welcome here as long as they need to stay, as long as they are committed to sobriety.

 We are blessed here at Sunny Acres - we have people from all over the world coming forward to offer their assistance and support. We have wonderful volunteers who come out and help us plant, or work on clean up days…and wonderful giving professional people who work side by side with us in our endeavors.

 Our residents watch over each other – we are a family. We are a community. For many of our residents, we are the only family they have. Everyone cares about each other.

Most of our residents now live in the Victorian Farmhouse where our founder was born and raised. We are very excited to break ground in the near future on a 6,000 square foot 14 bedroom home enabling us to have our residents live in a nice new and proper home. We will be inviting the community to join us in this project very soon.

We have an open door policy. We welcome anyone in the community to come out for a tour of the ranch and to see for yourself how our program works.

 If you have any questions, please give me a call. I can be reached at 805/234-5508. My name is Becky Jorgeson, and I am proud to live and volunteer at Sunny Acres.

Becky Jorgeson
Public Relations
Sunny Acres, Inc.