The women and children of St. John's homeless shelter in Sacramento had their proverbial brush with fame on Wednesday.
It came courtesy of Oprah Winfrey, whose program was dedicated to "the new faces of homelessness" across the country.
Dozens of those homeless faces gazed at television screens inside the shelter Wednesday as Winfrey talked about people like them.
"It made me cry," said Mercy Bracamonte, 39, who has lived at St. John's for the past two months, since losing her job with a collection agency.
St. John's was was one of several Sacramento agencies highlighted in the program, which was reported by the capital city's own Lisa Ling. Ling and her crew also visited Loaves & Fishes and its Mustard Seed School for homeless children, the Cal Expo winter shelter, and a sprawling tent city near the Blue Diamond almond factory where hundreds of men and women sleep outdoors every night. She visited with people in Colorado and Southern California, too.
"I think it's about time that there is a spotlight on this problem," said Bracamonte. "Because it's just getting worse. People who not very long ago were middle class are sitting here."
Elaine Ramirez was one of them.
Ramirez, 30, was earning $15 an hour as a teacher's assistant before surgery sidelined her and she had to take a pay cut, she said.
"I couldn't keep up," said Ramirez, who a month ago ended up at St. John's with her three children, ages 1 through 9.
"I thank St. John's for everything," she said, sitting in front of a large television screen munching donated appetizers, one eye trained on her children. "But this is something new to me. I have never been in a shelter before."
As the "Oprah" program pointed out, many others are in the same situation. Or worse.
The program followed newly homeless families forced to tote everything they own in plastic garbage bags; a formerly wealthy couple living out of rented office space; middle-aged men and women sleeping in dome tents.
"I find that shocking," Winfrey remarked after a segment on Sacramento's tent city. Ling compared it to a Third World refugee camp.
St. John's director Michele Steeb was among those who shed tears during the broadcast.
"And I see these kinds of things every day," said Steeb, the only person in the building whose "Oprah" interview actually made it onto the show.
Steeb said she hopes the program will prompt people who have managed to weather the recession to reach out to those who are suffering.
"I hope this community steps up," she said.
In signing off of the program on Wednesday, Winfrey echoed her sentiments.
"Look around and extend yourself in grace and kindness to somebody else," she urged her audience around the globe.
Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.
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