ANAHEIM : Shelter Ends Odyssey for Runaways

Small designer bowls filled with potpourri grace tables in each of the three bedrooms. A bouquet of rose-colored carnations brightens the dining area.

Aside from the tiny kitchen that doubles as a laundry room, the single-story house in Anaheim has few, if any, signs of being a home for runaway youths.

Odyssey House, a temporary shelter where youths can come to stay for up to two weeks at a time, opened its doors Tuesday afternoon and hopes to begin housing homeless children in the next few weeks.

Operated by Western Youth Services, the home is the first of its kind in North Orange County, and it’s one of four in the county.

“There’s an awful lot of kids who have absolutely nowhere to go,” said Sean, 17, who is active in the youth services’ long-term runaway program. Participants keep part-time jobs, take courses to earn high school credits and basically live like adults until they turn 18 and are able to live on their own.

The Odyssey program began in 1974, but without a facility like the house, runaways were sent to foster families to live.

“I think this is a good place and a lot of good can come from here,” said John, 17, one of the youths who attended Tuesday’s opening ceremonies. “This house is immaculate; I hope the kids appreciate it.”

Then-and-now photos on display at the open house show that turning the rundown, abandoned HUD house with thigh-high weeds and a dilapidated interior into the quaint, pleasant home was no simple feat.

Carpenter’s Union member Gary Fuller said he and his colleagues saw the job of rehabilitating the structure as an opportunity to do something good for the community--and send a message to union leaders that there are more ways to contribute to society than through the standard political donations.

“A lot of this money (to politicians) doesn’t help a bit. We wanted to put something together that could go on in the community. And I can’t think of a better reason,” Fuller said. “You can’t save the adults. You can save the kids.”

Barbara Clippinger, program director for WYS, said that 12,000 runaway youths are reported in the county annually and that 4,300 of those are in the north part of the county.

She said that some of those children are the victims of abuse and that others have simply had problems dealing with their families and need a place to work out those conflicts.

WYS is a mostly federally funded, nonprofit agency offering a number of services for youths. At the Odyssey House, youths aged 11 to 17 can stay up to two weeks and receive room, board and counseling.