LAGUNA BEACH : Homeless Center Gets New Life

Shortly after the Episcopal Service Alliance center opened 20 months ago, a caller threatened to set the building afire if the charity remained.

Another day, the staff arrived to discover that thieves had taken typewriters, a copier, television set, videocassette recorder and a vacuum cleaner, said program manager Ellen Gilchrist.

Even as it opened, some neighbors expressed concerns that the center to aid the homeless, sandwiched between South Laguna retail stores, could hurt nearby businesses. Residents and some city officials grumbled that they had not been consulted before the Episcopal Alliance moved in.

Three months ago, the center announced in a newspaper ad that it would close.

“We just didn’t have the money and the backing to do it any more,” Gilchrist said.

And then came the turning point, Gilchrist said.

“The very next day, things happened.” An anonymous donation arrived. Enough to pay the rent for at least six months, she said.

“The community pulled through,” she said. “They wanted us to stay, and that’s what we needed to hear.”

The center provides an employment program for the homeless as well as food, clothing, transportation and referrals to other county services. The center does not offer overnight lodging, but clients can shower and wash their clothes there.

The Episcopal Service Alliance has five branches in the county, including offices in San Clemente, Huntington Beach, Anaheim and Santa Ana. It also runs a San Clemente family shelter called Anchor House and a shelter for women in Orange, Martha House.

Services at the Laguna Beach branch have changed somewhat since the organization opened the office at 31676 Coast Highway. The doors are open three days a week instead of five, and clients who need mental health services are now given bus passes to the San Clemente office. But the organization’s executive director agrees that the service center has finally found its niche in Laguna Beach.

“I think it has kind of turned the corner,” Dennis White said. “People are seeing it as a place that is helpful to the community and a place they can come and give back to the community.”

Currently, volunteers are busy stuffing food baskets for families and preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for the needy, which is sponsored by the center, members of the community and Friendship Shelter, a homeless shelter in Laguna Beach. The holiday dinner will be held today at Bluebird Park at Cress Street and Coast Highway between noon and 2 p.m. About 150 people are expected.

Increasingly, workers say, Episcopal Service Alliance is becoming a part of Laguna’s diverse community.

“I guess we’re pretty permanent,” Gilchrist said.