Agencies That Assist Others After a Disaster Find They Now Need Help

When an 8.1 earthquake devastated Mexico City two years ago, toppling buildings and killing an estimated 10,000 people, World Vision International of Monrovia collected and distributed $750,000 to desperate victims.

But now, it is World Vision itself that needs help.

The severe quake and the aftershock that struck Los Angeles Oct. 1 have left the Christian help organization facing at least $100,000 in expenses--and maybe much more--to repair or replace its three-story mail center, spokesman Ken Waters said Friday. Pending further engineering studies, the entire building may have to be demolished and rebuilt at an estimated cost of $2 million, he said.

Employees Idled

Meanwhile, 105 employees have been out of work for a week. Mail has been piling up--letters that generally bring in $360,000 a day for distribution to needy children and adults worldwide.

“It’s kind of ironic,” Waters said. “The feeling that it happened to us, just like it happens to the people we help, is a little bit unnerving. (But) in some ways that’ll make us work harder because we can relate better. We’re now able to feel what they feel.”

That sentiment reflected much of the feeling at a number of missions and help organizations that have been hit hard by the quake. From Whittier, where the quake was centered, to downtown’s Skid Row, where many of Los Angeles’ homeless seek refuge, assistance groups have struggled to keep programs going in older buildings that were often severely damaged.

But most say they are making it.

Temporary Home

World Vision, which has run its worldwide program for 15 years in a structure that now could collapse any day, has found a temporary home for its employees in a closed nearby restaurant, where the mail will be handled beginning Monday, Waters said. Workers may be asked to put in overtime until the stacks of mail--perhaps 60,000 letters--are handled, he said.

“It hurts,” Waters said. “You have to work that much harder to catch up. (But) we’re not going to let it affect the care and assistance we give to children . . . overseas.”

At the Downtown Women’s Center, which provides housing, meals and psychiatric care to women on Skid Row, the quake severely damaged the building where daytime services are offered, director Jill Halverson said. That building, at 325 S. Los Angeles St., will have to be replaced at a cost of about $300,000, she said.

Using Microwave Ovens

Meanwhile, meals are being cooked in microwave ovens rather than in kitchens. Those meals are being offered outdoors--as are legal services and counseling. No longer are there showers, she said, so some women are forced to do without them.

“The poor usually bear the brunt of these things, because they’re ill prepared to deal with disaster,” Halverson said. “It’s been a real shock to us, but I think we’ve responded quickly. We’ve served every meal . . . 30 to 50 a day . . . including the day of the earthquake.”

Fortunately, she said, there was no damage to the new three-story building next door where the center houses 48 women a night. But damage to the older building has forced the center to prepare plans for a new building while also searching for temporary facilities.

Architects to Help

The Los Angeles architectural firm of Levin & Associates, which designed the Wiltern Theatre, has agreed to design the new structure for free, Halverson said. In the meantime, she added, Mayor Tom Bradley has said the city will loan the center two of the 67-foot mobile homes recently bought to house the homeless.

Those will enable programs to continue until a new building is completed--probably in nine months, she said.

Ironically, the women’s center was just preparing to reinforce the building against earthquakes when the temblor hit.

“Our biggest feeling of loss . . . is the 80-foot mural on the side of the building,” Halverson said. The artwork featured depictions of 50 women who actually worked and sought help at the center. “Real women; we’re all in it,” the director said. “That was treasured by us and the community.”

There is also the matter of raising funds. With a budget of $65,000, which is already strained, it will be difficult to pay for the replacement structure, she said. “It’ll be hard,” Halverson said, “but we’re used to hard.”

Soup Kitchen Closed

Extensive cracking and fallen bricks also have forced the closure of the Catholic Worker, a popular soup kitchen that has offered 600 to 1,000 meals a day for Skid Row residents downtown.

That service, which ran continuously for 17 years, was closed Monday after engineers toured the three-story structure, volunteer Kim Williams said. Repair costs could run $300,000, and so far the lay Catholic organization does not know how it will foot the bill. One notion has been to continue the service outdoors, in the parking lot, she said.

“We’re up in the air now,” Williams said. “We’ve been there so long . . . it’s like the end of an era. But we’re not going to give up.”

Two Missions Spared

Less hard-hit were two other Skid-Row organizations: the Union Rescue Mission, across the street from the Downtown Women’s Center, and the Los Angeles Mission, at 443 S. Los Angeles St.

The quake hit two months after the Union Rescue Mission had finished seismic reinforcements on its three-story, 396-bed facility, which it has occupied since 1926, mission executive John Dickson said. The seismic work, which cost $100,000, may have prevented damage considerably more costly, he said.

“We’re very fortunate,” he said. “Our health center was damaged quite a bit. We had ceiling plaster fall out . . . we’ve lost some bricks. It’s probably $25,000 worth of damage. That’s not going to make or break us.”

Work Continued

Damage at the Los Angeles Mission, which offers 100 beds for the homeless and serves about 550 meals a day, was estimated at $85,000, director Mark Holsinger said. The quake has not interrupted the mission’s work, he said, but the expense will hurt at a time when the nonprofit organization is struggling to construct a new $11-million facility at 5th and Wall streets.

The new structure, due for completion in a year, will have space for 296 beds and 2,000 meals a day, Holsinger said.

“It’s a waste of money,” he said of the damage.

Other organizations are trying to figure out how they will continue long-established services.

The Salvation Army in Whittier, whose chapel and offices were condemned after some walls separated from others, annually distributes about 500 food baskets and 2,000 toys for the needy at Christmas. Those programs are in jeopardy unless it can find quarters to store and distribute the goods, the organization’s Carol Hassler said.

The Salvation Army does have most of the money to rebuild the structure--expected to cost $1.3 million--but will need about $250,000 in added donations to complete the work, she said.

“There’s only 10 weeks till Christmas,” she said. “We don’t know what we’re going to do. Everybody in Whittier is trying to find a spot to rest their hat on.”