Haven for Women : New YWCA Hotel Is Far Cry From Parking Lot Where Some Slept

The recently opened $1-million YWCA Hotel for Women in downtown Santa Ana is stylishly furnished and--from the peach-colored walls to the sea-foam green carpet--is decorated in trendy pastel shades that would be at home on “Miami Vice.”

It’s a far cry from the YWCA parking lot where 25-year-old Tina Silvani and other homeless women slept three years ago.

“It’s nice--it makes you feel right at home,” the soft-spoken Silvani said, smiling shyly as she paused next to the fireplace in the hotel’s second-floor lounge.

Ann Mills, 33, a former Orange County resident who returned to the county six weeks ago to look for work after her marriage broke up in Bakersfield, was more outspoken.

Mills, who described herself as a “woman in transition,” said: “This has been a godsend. I have a corner room, beautiful decor, and I’m very comfortable. It is a respite and a beautiful one, to boot.”

Silvani and Mills are among the first half-dozen residents of the 19-room, 38-bed hotel built over the gymnasium of the existing YWCA of South Orange County on North Broadway.

The Hotel for Women--Orange County’s second and largest facility for women unaccompanied by husbands or children--opened quietly in last month. YWCA staff members, who are interviewing applicants daily, said about 20 women are in the process of signing up. They expect the hotel to be full by the end of this month.

To help defray the hotel’s operating costs, the women pay daily rates of $22 for a single room with bath and $15 per person for a double with bath. Rooms without a private bath are $15 for a single and $7.50 for a double.

Only women willing to work toward supporting themselves and finding their own permanent housing are eligible to stay. Those with serious problems involving behavior or mental health are not accepted. Women with drug or alcohol habits must have completed a rehabilitation program and be involved with Alcoholics Anonymous or other after-treatment programs.

“The bottom line is they have to help themselves--that’s how they’re going to become strong again,” said Mary Douglas, director of the YWCA of South Orange County.

Although supporters say they are pleased that the hotel has opened, the Y’s admission criteria have caused a few donors to complain privately that the so-called “bag ladies,” who originally inspired the project, will not be served by it.

Slept Outside

In the early ‘80s, up to 40 homeless women a night slept on the Y’s porch and in its parking lot. In 1984, Santa Ana officials notified the Y that city zoning laws were violated by the makeshift sleeping arrangements and by the Y’s 1 1/2-year-old day-center program offering breakfast and showers for homeless women.

Sylvia Easton of Irvine, a contributor who has been “deeply concerned” about Orange County’s homeless people for several years, acknowledged that the hotel is a worthwhile endeavor.

“But it left some of us disappointed that it didn’t take care of the 40 or more women who were displaced (from the Y parking lot),” she said.

“We thought we had been supporting these people, but there was a misunderstanding because it turned out (the hotel) was a preventive measure rather than rescuing the people who were already on the street.”

Jean Forbath, director of Share Ourselves (SOS), a private Costa Mesa agency that helps the homeless, said: “We don’t want to be negative about something that’s good, but it’s not the good we were hoping for.

“The initial publicity--and the initial sort of plea to the community for support--did use the bag-lady image, and it started out, ‘Let’s get the women living outside the Y on the streets a shelter.’ ”

Forbath said the hotel “is great for a certain segment of homeless women.”

“However, I think it’s going to be fairly exclusive and unfortunately will not serve the types of homeless women we see at SOS.”

Many women have been on the street so long they don’t have the motivation that Y officials are seeking, she said. “The hotel is not going to serve the women who slept outside the doors of the Y.”

Douglas disagrees, citing Silvani as an example of a woman who used to sleep outside the Y and is now getting back on her feet at the hotel.

Jobs Seen Vital

Stressing that the hotel is not a mission, Douglas said it was never the Y’s intention to be “all things to all people.” As an organization, the Y is “ready, willing and able to help those who are willing to help themselves,” she said, adding that a willingness to be employed is the key for getting back into the mainstream.

“We’re not taking anyone abusing drugs or alcohol. We’re not a detox center. That would be ludicrous--to think we could work with all these community problems. And there are community resources to help with drug and alcohol rehabilitation.”

Anne Milkes, managing director of the hotel, said the main goal for residents is finding employment and housing within their means.

Several already have jobs but do not make enough money to move into an apartment. Mills, who for several weeks had been paying $32 a night for a motel room, is a waitress in a small Santa Ana restaurant.

Silvani, who had been living on welfare with a family in Olympia, Wash., for the last 10 months, was hired as a kennel helper in a Santa Ana pet shop three days before moving into the hotel.

Milkes estimated that residents will stay an average of four weeks. During that time the Y staff and volunteers will help the women find jobs, housing and financial assistance.

The women must also participate in a counseling program--supervised by volunteer licensed psychologists--which offers support and encouragement in building self-esteem. “They can’t just come in and look at the walls and expect all of a sudden this transformation is going to happen,” Douglas said.

The hotel was built with city, county, state and federal money, along with donations from individuals, foundations, corporations, service organizations and churches. “It was put together by the whole community,” said Douglas, noting that a fund-raising campaign is being planned to raise money to help pay for the hotel’s $12,000-a-month operating costs.

Emma Jane Riley, president of the Program for Women Foundation, which was organized to raise money for the hotel, said she hopes that “it’s going to help some women regain their self-respect and make a comeback in life.”

Facilities Needed

Dennis White, executive director of the Episcopal Service Alliance which runs Martha House, a 10-bed home for homeless women in Orange, said he has seen the need for more facilities: “We receive around 40 calls a day from women on the street looking for shelter, so I think this is going to be a great asset to the county and to the agencies that are working closely with the homeless.”

Milkes, former executive director of the Hannah Harrison School, a residential vocational school for homeless women in Washington, said two of the first six women at the hotel have lived on the street. Others have come directly from motels or temporary living arrangements with friends.

A homeless woman applying to be a resident must have no other suitable housing arrangements and must have a financial need, Milkes said. She added that the Y has an assistance program, based on donations, in which women can stay for a night or two until they get on welfare.

The ages of residents now range from 28 to 59, she said. Most have children, but the children are not with them for various reasons. “Usually the father has custody or they’ve made arrangements for the child because they have no money.”

The women have many reasons for being homeless--divorce, death of a close relative, loss of a job. Before becoming residents, they undergo health screenings and three interviews.

The first is with an intake counselor, a licensed social worker who takes a personal history. “It deals with all the issues that brought the woman to the situation she is in,” Milkes said. “They try to determine whether she’s ready to set goals and move on.”

Assesses Employability

The second interview assesses the woman’s employability. The third interview, with Milkes or a staff member, covers hotel rules, which include a strict no-smoking policy.

During their stay, the women are required to maintain their quarters and cook their meals. The meals are temporarily being cooked in a microwave oven while the kitchen is being equipped with donated appliances.

The formal dedication of the hotel will be held April 23. By then, it should be full and Silvani may have moved on.

Seated in the lobby one recent evening, Silvani said her stay was giving her a chance to save enough money to get a place to live with a roommate.

Still, it won’t be easy. She takes home just $150 a week from her job in the pet shop.

“Me and my friend were looking around for a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Ana. A small one is $575, and for two bedrooms it’s $650--plus a deposit, which is $300, and utilities.”

Meantime, Silvani said she is happy to be at the hotel. She knows where she would be without it.

“Out there,” she said, nodding toward the glass lobby doors leading to the street. “I’d still have my job but no place to live.”