The Scattered Homeless

The homeless are not as visible in the San Fernando Valley as they are on Skid Row. In the Valley they are scattered, but they are there just the same. From Pacoima to North Hollywood, from Sun Valley through Van Nuys and out to Reseda, there may be as many as 3,000 people without homes. No one really knows. What is known is that there are very few shelters for them.

The Valley Rescue Mission in Pacoima has room for about 25. The Valley Interfaith Council, working through Better Valley Services, has obtained $75,000 in federal money to rent 25 rooms at a North Hollywood motel; more money must be raised for the project. The Valley Mayors Fund for the Homeless, a private citizens’ association, hopes to educate people about the need for shelters, to raise some money for them and to encourage churches and temples to open any available space to the homeless.

Many shelters are needed in the Valley for many kinds of homeless people--for the elderly, for the mentally ill, for women and children as well as for men.

Just as government agencies have started to come together in efforts to house and counsel the homeless on Skid Row, so they must continue to work in other areas of the city such as the Valley. Communities can respond with blankets, sleeping bags and money, as they often have done, but the bigger projects need at least the guiding hand and cooperation of county and city governments.

Downtown, the temporary shelter at 5th and San Julian streets is nearer its financial goals, but it still needs about $50,000. The ARCO Foundation has contributed $25,000, the Federal Emergency Management Agency $60,000, the city $100,000 and the county $44,000.

What will happen this summer when the temporary shelter is scheduled to close? Several efforts are under way, including improvements at existing Skid Row hotels. It takes time, however, to bring a building up to seismic-safety standards, to install fire doors and to put in toilets and showers. That’s why the effort must start now with the fullest city and county cooperation to ensure timely completion. There will still be homeless people who need shelter this summer. And even more still need it now--on Skid Row, in the Valley and elsewhere in the city.