Plan to Put Homeless in Hollywood Hotel Stirs Image Problem

A religiously affiliated coalition in Hollywood, risking further displeasure of those who want to boost the film capital’s image, has bought a Vine Street hotel as an emergency shelter for the homeless.

The $1.4-million purchase of the Stage Inn, a film industry rendezvous in the silent movie era, achieves the first major goal of CHIP-IN, a coalition of 44 churches, synagogues and social service agencies--to respond to the “overwhelming” needs of transients and homeless in Hollywood, according to Patricia Shelhamer, CHIP-IN’s corporate secretary.

The shelter will house up to 50 people--40 singles and 2 families--for stays of up to several weeks, Shelhamer said.

Estimates vary, but a 1984 federal Housing and Urban Development report estimated that Los Angeles County had nearly 34,000 homeless people. The report did not contain a separate estimate for Hollywood.

“These people sleep on the steps of churches, in the bushes, in the courtyards,” Shelhamer said.

Coordinates Program

For the last year, CHIP-IN has coordinated a church-supported program that feeds about 250 people five days a week at the Salvation Army facility on Hollywood Boulevard. In addition, a couple of independent, evangelical ministries have worked with “street people” in the area for several years.

But CHIP-IN, which hopes to obtain more shelters, has pulled together the sporadic efforts of some venerable Hollywood churches and synagogues. “This is the first time I’ve seen it (ecumenism) in action,” said Jesuit Father Robert Thom, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.

Rather than receiving praise, the growing religious response to poverty and transients has clashed with an ambitious campaign by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and others to restore the district’s glamour and respectability. Those hopes were boosted recently with the Los Angeles City Council’s final approval of a $900-million, 30-year redevelopment program for Hollywood.

“The Hollywood chamber wants the image of glamorous success,” said Canon Noble Owings of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, treasurer of CHIP-IN.

Seeking Compromise

Chamber of Commerce President Bill Welsh said that his organization likes the aims of CHIP-IN, but not its choice of locations for feeding and sheltering programs. A liaison committee is trying to iron out differences between the chamber and the coalition, he said.

“Our problem is that the two most famous streets in the world (Hollywood and Vine) are now the centers for these operations. We think there could be areas where it could be done less conspicuously,” Welsh said.

“I would hope (the churches) realize they survive because of the generosity of the business community,” Welsh said.

Welsh said he has asked the Salvation Army “on numerous occasions” to have its feeding line form in back of its building, rather than on Hollywood Boulevard’s sidewalk about three blocks east of Vine Street. “This should not be the first thing a visitor sees when coming off the Hollywood Freeway,” Welsh said.

Shelhamer said CHIP-IN has made a similar request. But Salvation Army Capt. Moses Reyes said in an interview that people assembled in front of the church, or “corps,” building are more orderly than when they were asked to line up in the back on earlier occasions.

‘Harder to Control’

“When they are on the property they are harder to control,” Reyes said. He said, however, that a wall built in the back of the property may now permit the Army to channel people along one side of the property.

As CHIP-IN negotiated to buy the 30-room Stage Inn, located on Vine Street a block south of Santa Monica Boulevard, the Chamber of Commerce suggested that “maybe there was a less-conspicuous place to take care of these people--a little more removed from schools and churches,” Welsh said.

Welsh said he believes that the new facility will draw more transients to Hollywood.

“If I had a choice of a free room on Skid Row or in Hollywood, I think I would want to stay in Hollywood,” he said.

The Stage Inn, formerly the Hotel Belden, was the temporary home in the 1920s of Buster Keaton, Mae Murray and other silent-movie stars when many of the studios were located south of Sunset Boulevard, according to owner Normand Houle.

‘In Excellent Shape’

Shelhamer said the Stage Inn was sought because it was “the only one really in good condition and ready to go.” It was refurbished to house foreign correspondents during the 1984 Summer Olympics and has been closed since then.

“It’s in excellent shape,” said Ralph Cox, an official with Volunteers of America. “Once escrow closes, perhaps in late August, it will not take more than 30 days to put it into operation.”

The Volunteers of America, a religiously oriented but nondenominational service organization, was selected by CHIP-IN to operate the shelter. It already runs three shelters in Central and South Los Angeles, said Cox, deputy director of the group’s alcoholic and residential services division.

Volunteers of America contributed $300,000 of the $800,000 down payment (the rest came from state and Community Redevelopment Agency funds) and will be responsible for paying the balance, Cox said. CHIP-IN affiliates will contribute money to house homeless families and individuals, and have rooms reserved for their referrals to the shelter.

Cox said there are no present plans to move a meals program to the shelter. “We do not want idle people standing around the neighborhood,” he said.

Wants New Location

Welsh said the chamber would prefer that the food and shelter centers be located off main Hollywood streets, away from businesses. But the Holy Ghost Repair Service learned that problems can arise there, too.

Until three months ago, the evangelical group ran a free meal program six days a week at its Oasis coffeehouse and bookstore on Cherokee Avenue, half a block south of Hollywood Boulevard. However, complaints from residents in the area forced the ministry to cut back to free lunches two days a week, spokesman Ron Radachy said. “We were getting 100 people a day and it was increasing,” he said.

Judy McPheeters, who started the ministry with her late husband, said the group conducts services on Monday nights, concerts with Christian performers Friday and Saturday evenings and sends out street “witnessing” teams.

Although openly seeking “to see people’s lives changed for Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit,” McPheeters said, the group performs a variety of humanitarian services, such as providing rides to the hospital. It works with Centrum of Hollywood, another ministry to “street people” affiliated with Youth With a Mission, which has an emergency shelter on Normandie Avenue.

The Holy Ghost Repair Service and Centrum both have received aid from the 4,500-member Hollywood First Presbyterian Church. The church, a CHIP-IN member, has its own food and clothing project, in addition to sending volunteers to the Salvation Army on Friday nights to serve meals.

‘That’s Too Bad’

“We’ve heard the Hollywood chamber would rather not have (the meal-seekers) here,” said Jean Reynolds, of the church’s missions office. “Well, that’s too bad. We’re not going to stop because they don’t want them around. I’ve been here years and years and we’ve always had the homeless and the hungry around.”

Similarly, CHIP-IN’s Shelhamer, until recently the administrator for the Hollywood First United Methodist Church, said, “You can’t change the image without changing reality. You have to attack the problem; you can’t just wish it away.”

Church efforts to meet the needs of the homeless are becoming common. On April 1, the Interfaith Council of San Fernando Valley converted a 77-unit motel in North Hollywood into an emergency shelter after buying it for $2.2 million. The Los Angeles Roman Catholic archdiocese recently announced receipt of a $50,000 grant from the Hands Across America campaign to be used toward conversion of the St. Vincent Center in Skid Row into a 24-hour facility for homeless men.

CHIP-IN’s coalition of religious and social service groups was formed in February, 1985, at the suggestion of county Supervisor Ed Edelman. It included a group with some of the same aims that met at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

Made It an Acronym

The name Chip-In was selected and only later did someone decided to make it an acronym: Community of Hollywood Investing in People in Need, Shelhamer said.

The 17 member churches include five Roman Catholic parishes, two Episcopal parishes, two United Methodist churches and two Jewish temples. The social agencies include both secular and religiously affiliated groups, the latter including Centrum of Hollywood, Caring Hands, Jewish Family Services, Angel’s Flight and Catholic Social Services. The Holy Ghost Repair Service is not an affiliate but McPheeters said her group this week promised a contribution to CHIP-IN.

At a CHIP-IN board meeting Thursday, Rabbi Gilbert Kollin of Hollywood Temple Beth El was reelected president and Brian Moore, president of the Hollywood Coordinating Council, was reelected first vice president.