O.C. Churches to Give Shelter to Homeless

Advocates for the homeless are preparing to launch an innovative winter shelter program that will place beds in dozens of Orange County churches for people who have nowhere else to go.

Besides helping to fill a critical need, the program is expected to give churches and their congregations a greater awareness and understanding of homelessness, organizers say.

But there is also concern that the program could provoke controversy--as it has in several California cities--and lend force to a recent backlash against social service providers that has swelled in communities throughout the county.

Modeled after a successful project in San Diego, the Orange County program will begin Nov. 15 and end March 1 and will involve about 25 churches whose congregations have agreed to shelter 12 homeless people for two-week rotating periods.

“We want to try to help get people work, to try to help get them back on their feet,” said Scott Mather, chairman of the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force. “But the strength of this program is the educational process. For the congregations, the issue will become more personal to them. They will never look on the homeless in the same way again.”

Organizers say the program is a much-needed addition to the current system that allows National Guard armories to be opened to the homeless only when temperatures and weather are most severe.

The county has allowed the armories in Santa Ana and Fullerton to be used under those guidelines for the last three years, but they are unavailable when military training sessions are scheduled.

Homeless activists have long been concerned about a lack of shelter space, especially during winter months when the county is threatened with bitterly cold and stormy weather.

County officials say the numbers of homeless in the region--estimated at between 4,000 to 10,000--far exceed available beds, which total about 600 permanent spaces.

The Fullerton and Santa Ana armories--opened when temperatures drop below 40 degrees or if there is at least a 50% chance of rain--can handle about 250 people.

The church project will initially provide an additional 24 spaces and as many as 60 if more churches join this year, said task force chairman Mather.

While the new program’s size is relatively small, homeless people who sign up to participate are assured of having a warm bed or cot for 60 days. The churches will also provide meals, showers and other services such as job-hunting assistance and training.

“The number is insignificant when you look at the total number of homeless, but it is not insignificant to the people involved,” said the Rev. Bob Ewing, pastor of the South Coast Christian Church in Costa Mesa, which will participate. “We’ve gotten off to a great start this year, and the program can only expand.”

Homeless people will be referred to the program by a number of county social service agencies and will have to agree to abstain from alcohol or drugs, Mather says.

“We are focusing on singles who are employable, and we are giving the agencies a profile of who we are looking for,” Mather said. “So there will be screening, but I’m sure we will also find people in the armories who will move into the program.”

Organizers said the project has so far been well-received, although some churches--most saying they lack sufficient facilities--have opted not to become involved.

Nonetheless, an undercurrent of caution is evident among many participants, who fear that some communities may object to having the homeless in their midst, even if only for a short time.

A few have told organizers that they wish to maintain a low profile and have even suggested that the program not be publicized until it is well under way to forestall opposition among residents and jittery city officials.

“There is some concern about that because some communities have shown what might be called a little intolerance lately,” said the pastor of one participating church who asked that his name not be used.

He was referring to the fact that many communities around the county have rejected locating services for the homeless, the aged, the disabled and other groups in their areas, something that social welfare officials call the NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) syndrome.

They point to a recent Costa Mesa incident as an example. In that case, city officials, who said they were responding to residents’ complaints, questioned whether operation of a soup kitchen at South Coast Christian Church fell within normal church functions. City officials at one point told church leaders that they would need a special permit for the activity.

The city backed away, however, when the church refused to comply and accused city officials of treading on the Constitution’s separation of church and state.

But the incident left many church leaders fearful of rousing community wrath, organizers said.

“Some people are concerned and rightly so,” said the Rev. Paul Johnson, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, which will participate in the homeless program. “We have a school and preschool here and many people are already concerned about the transients we see sleeping (around the church). We have told our parishioners that (the shelter project) is a very well-organized program and that people will be screened.”

Ewing, who has acted as a regional coordinator soliciting churches for the program, said no church officials have cited neighborhood opposition as a reason for not becoming involved.

“That kind of (neighborhood) reaction almost helps people to say ‘Let’s go ahead, we’re not going to be silenced,’ ” he said.

But Mather acknowledged that organizers have prepared for the program with a degree of reticence because of their concerns.

The San Diego shelter project, in its fourth year, is supported by 100 churches and last year served nearly 500 people in that community.

Mary Niez, coordinator of the San Diego Interfaith Shelter Network, said a few congregations that wanted to participate were initially met with some resistance: there were questions about whether the program fit in with overall church functions. But by and large the program has not met widespread opposition, she said.

“Most churches have a lot of activity going on so when 12 people arrive, how does the community know they are homeless?” she said. “One of the most valuable things this program does is break down stereotypes. When you sit down with these people at meals, you see that they are just like you or me.”

Jim Burklo, coordinator of a year-round church shelter network in Palo Alto, said his project was vigorously resisted by some neighbors before finally gaining city approval--15 months after it was proposed.

Churches that considered joining that project also were nervous about the safety and security of their buildings, property and the surrounding neighborhoods, Burklo said.

After a public hearing, the City Council imposed several restrictions, including a requirement that the number of homeless each church could shelter at one time be reduced from 30 to 15.

Each of the dozen churches that act as shelters were required to obtain a use permit. Burklo said church leaders debated whether they should comply with the permit request, finally deciding that it was more constructive to be good neighbors and go along with it.

“We are a grass-roots organization dependent on the community for help, and we have to think about what the community wants as a whole,” said Burklo.

Burklo noted that community fears about the project have not been borne out.

“It’s been very successful, and we have had no complaints from neighbors, which has amazed city officials and myself,” he added.

Los Angeles does not have a formal church shelter program, said Robert Vilmur, coordinator of homeless programs for the city. But many individual churches are involved in sheltering the homeless, including La Placita, a Catholic church near City Hall that shelters several hundred people a night during cold weather.

The city also operates a winter shelter program in six recreation centers and two National Guard armories.

“Neighborhood opposition has arisen as an issue innumerable times, and with very few exceptions we have been able to work with the community and allay their concerns,” Vilmur said. “There are a lot of misconceptions that a shelter is a situation where things can get out of hand, where they are looked on as troublemakers. But when people are cold and wet, coupled with fatigue, all they want is food and shelter.”

Orange County organizers said breaking down the myths surrounding the homeless will be an important function of the program.

Advocates for the homeless note that many of those without shelter in Orange County are the working poor who can not save enough money to make a down payment on a house or put together a security deposit for an apartment.

“There is a general perception that homeless people don’t care about their own well-being and won’t go to work, but that is generally not true,” said Ben Davis, a shelter coordinator and member of the participating Community United Methodist Church in Huntington Beach.

Davis, a retired aerospace worker, became involved with the homeless issue several months ago when the shelter program was under development. “I was one of those people in Orange County who had life very well,” he said.

After initial doubts that his congregation could manage the program, he and many others have become enthusiastic supporters, he said.

Davis said the experience has raised his consciousness, and he hopes other congregations will also be moved to participate.

“We all hear about the homeless problem and wish something could be done about it, but we don’t know what to do,” said Davis. “This program enables people to see the problem first hand and gives them an opportunity to understand.”