Spotlight Is Put on Plight of Homeless : Poverty: An all-day conference seeks to overcome what organizers say is a denial that the problem exists.

One year ago, Paula never could have done what she did on Thursday.

Squaring her shoulders with determination, Paula stood in front of more than 200 people at the Torrance Holiday Inn and told her story.

“I was homeless. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol. I was a prostitute from the age of 9,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “I tried to kill myself when I was 14 because I didn’t want any part of it anymore.”

For years, Paula dropped in and out of numerous shelters and rehabilitation programs, each time returning to the street. Finally, through the Homeless Women’s Drop-In Center in Wilmington, she found the strength to reach for long-term help.

Now settled in an apartment and the proud mother of a “healthy, bouncy and clean” 8-month-old boy, Paula feels ready to begin contributing to the network that saved her.

“They taught me if you put your hand out they’re not going to bite it off. They might grab it and hold on to it,” she said. “I owe my life to the shelters, and there are a lot more people out there like me.”

When she finished describing the horrors she had endured, the audience of social workers, religious leaders and shelter operators exploded with applause.

Paula’s life, they said afterward, is proof that there is homelessness in the South Bay, and that with time--and love--it can be beaten.

But first, they said, the South Bay’s cities are going to have to acknowledge that the homeless are here.

“There’s a strong denial in the South Bay that we even have a homeless problem,” said Caroline Hill, a counselor for a local social services agency called Crossroads. “We just don’t want to see them.”

Pastors and city leaders from throughout the South Bay were invited to attend Thursday’s all-day conference on homelessness, sponsored by the city of Gardena, the South Bay branch of the National Council on Alcoholism, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena and the Gardena Ministerial Assn.

Although the conference attracted representatives from a broad area, only a handful of registrants were from the South Bay’s central cities and beach areas.

The poor showing from the area’s heart frustrated conference organizers.

“One of our major goals was to sensitize the South Bay to what is happening here,” said Gail Baca, youth and family services manager for the city of Gardena. “It takes community education. You can’t hit people over the head with it. You have to do it slowly.”

To encourage that education, Crossroads last year helped create the South Bay Homeless Coalition, a loose-knit group of social service agencies, churches and individuals who simply want to help.

Of the entire South Bay area, homeless activists agree that Gardena’s churches and government have the best track record for providing a helping hand.

The Rev. Jim Brewster, pastor at Alondra Park United Methodist Church, said officials in many cities flatly deny that there is a homeless problem.

“The churches help out even though the city governments don’t,” he said. “It takes support at all levels to make it work.”

At the conference, homeless activists discussed strategies for dealing with the fact that more than three-quarters of the people living on the streets are addicted to either alcohol or drugs, and often to both.

“If they’re not (addicted) and they end up on the streets, they soon will be,” said the Rev. Carol Nichols, pastor at First Southern Baptist Church in Gardena.

In addition, many of the homeless are mentally ill and have been outside the social mainstream for so long that they no longer know how to keep a roof over their heads once one is provided.

Conference speakers encouraged activists to approach the homeless problem from all sides by meeting not only the basic needs of shelter, food and clothing, but also by creating the kind of relationship that can encourage permanent rehabilitation.

“They have to begin to trust and love and realize that you really care about them,” said Jim Morrow, director of the Homeless Women’s Drop-In Center.

Then, activists can help the homeless regain enough self-esteem to want to do more than just survive.

“Most of them are so beaten down they can’t move,” Nichols said. “We need to help them see that there is hope.”

SPEAKING ABOUT THE HOMELESS