COUNTYWIDE : Aid Center Facing July 17 Eviction

The strain on the young mother’s face was evident as she held her bundled newborn close and waited to receive free baby formula. Life in the Minnie Street neighborhood clearly was taking its toll on this rail-thin 18-year-old.

Like many others in this 22-block area in the southeast section of the city, the mother had come to the Neighborhood Service Center at 430 S. Standard Ave. for help.

But help may not be so readily available after June 17, when the center must vacate the church it has rented for more than two years. The Latino and Cambodian immigrants who have come to rely on the center for emergency food and clothing, paralegal and counseling services, literacy classes and medical referrals may be left without a place to go unless the center can find a new home.

“It’s devastating for us,” said Mary Ann Salamida, the center’s executive director. “We not only have to find a permanent site but also an interim site. If we interrupt our services for any longer than two weeks, we will lose much of our funding” from the city and the state.

Salamida has been looking into various sites to use temporarily, including property owned by local developer Chris Kackar, who has offered use of an apartment complex on Minnie Street for a reduced rate. But that possibility might be snagged by city zoning laws.

The center received a 30-day eviction notice on April 30 from the landlord, the Orange County Southern Baptist Assn., which wants to bring a congregation to the church. The center got a two-week extention, but Salamida said that still doesn’t give her enough time.

“The time frame is unrealistic,” Salamida said. “You can’t even move out of a house in 30 days.”

The Rev. Doyle Braden said the association tried to avoid evicting the center by searching for alternate sites for their new church for almost a year. He said the church couldn’t give the center, which is on a month-to-month lease, more time because the association needs to have a new congregation in by the the end of June or face losing a $30,000 grant.

“It’s not a matter of what we want to do,” Braden said. “We were placed in a situation where we don’t have very good choices to make.”

Program director Irene Martinez said it is vital that the center continue to provide services to the estimated 12,000 Latinos and Cambodians in the area.

“We are the link between services and the community,” Martinez said. “A lot of residents don’t know what’s available to them or even if they qualify for services. They don’t know where to start and have no idea who to trust.”

Salamida said the toughest part about the situation is having to tell the more than 1,000 people that the center serves each week that there may be a temporary shutdown of services. Last Friday, she broke the news to an English language class.

Maria Battres, a student in the class, was visibly concerned.

“It’s very important that we continue,” Battres said in broken English. “Everyone is very grateful for these classes.”

Salamida, a former administrator with United Way, remains determined to keep the Neighborhood Service Center running.

“This is really a low point,” she said. “But we’re definitely here to stay.”