North County : Group Gets Donations to Aid County Homeless

In her job with the Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Service, Barbara Johnson says she sees between 250 and 300 homeless families stream through her office every year.

To alleviate some of the needs of the homeless in north Orange County, the Fullerton group is acting as an umbrella organization for a task force created to find a new shelter.

Created about six months ago, the group had an anonymous donor recently give a special “Christmas present” that has brought in about $1,000 in donations from other contributors, Johnson said.

The anonymous donor agreed about two weeks ago to contribute up to $5,000 in matching funds to any donations made by Dec. 31 for the new shelter, Johnson said. In those two weeks, the North Orange County Interfaith Shelter Project received about $1,000 in donations, which automatically will be matched by the donor, she said.

“It’s been a tremendous response at Christmastime,” Johnson said.

The new home is contingent upon a request for a state grant by the task force, which includes the Fullerton group and other church and service agencies. With the grant in hand, the group plans to purchase a four-unit complex in downtown Fullerton, Johnson said. The shelter will be modeled after the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter in Costa Mesa, she said.

Contributions can be mailed to the Shelter Project, P.O. Box 6326, Fullerton 92632, or by calling (714) 738-0255 or (714) 525-5525.