Homeless Center’s Closure Possible

A Ventura County homeless center may be forced to close unless local activists can demonstrate the need for the service and suggest alternate funding sources at a public meeting on Monday afternoon, officials said.

FOCUS, a day center for homeless people at 255 S. Laurel St. in Ventura, run by Ventura County’s Commission on Human Concerns, faces a reduction in state money, Executive Director Lee Riggan said.

The town meeting will be held from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Ventura City Hall, 501 Poli St., in the City Council chambers on the second floor.

FOCUS receives 60% of its funding from the state, Riggan said, to provide message and mail services as well as food distribution and drop-in programs.

About 40 people receive their mail at the center and about 150 people use the service’s phones each month to look for houses or jobs, she said. In addition, workers field about 300 calls per month from people seeking services, Riggan said.

At a meeting on Thursday of the commission’s 11-member board, comments and suggestions made at Monday’s meeting will be reviewed, Riggan said.

Thursday’s board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the administrative office, 621 Richmond Ave., Oxnard.

The board, made up of both public and private citizens and representatives of the poor, also will vote Thursday on the financing of a Simi Valley housing development for low-income seniors.

The apartments, which the board hopes to begin building on Patricia Street next year, would cost senior citizens about $300 a month for single-bedroom units, she said.

The board expects to approve a $25,000 no-interest loan for the building on Thursday, she said.