Before stepping into a Tuesday meeting, I received two calls from Santa Clara County. A parole officer involved in writing a pre-sentencing report had my name as a contact concerning the fire set at St. Paul’s UMC in June of 2022. I volunteered with Lifted Spirits, serving unhoused women at the time. I called 911 when I smelled smoke, then encountered the man who had just set fire to the church sanctuary. If you’re interested in the whole story, you can read more here, here, and here.

The parole officer asked if I had any comments before the hearing and asked if I would attend. We’re traveling in the weeks leading up to the hearing so I left my comments with her. I said that if our community had a better handle on the unhoused situation and the lack of meaningful mental health care, things like this would be less likely to happen.

I’m not a mental health expert, but it was clear that the man who greeted me in the hallway that day, holding lighters in each hand, was not of sound mind.

I’m somewhat relieved that they charged him with “unlawfully causing a fire” or “reckless burning” instead of arson. He’ll receive a sentence of one year in the county jail plus a referral to the mental health court where he should have been all along. Arson carries a nine-year sentence.

Meanwhile, the church structure sits idle, the Lifted Spirits program is searching again for a new home, and the building will eventually be torn down and hopefully converted into low-income and student housing. St. Paul’s UMC is next to San Jose State University, where affordable housing is scarce, so something good can hopefully come of this.

Tomorrow is another day.