Armories Open for Homeless as Temperatures Fall

Prompted by chilly temperatures and the threat of rain, county officials opened the National Guard armories in Santa Ana and Fullerton to the homeless Saturday for the first time this winter.

In Santa Ana, a dozen men and women were waiting in line outside the armory at 612 E. Warner Ave. before the makeshift shelter had even opened its doors. Within the first hour, some 40 people from across Orange County had arrived for a hot meal of chili, a shower and a dry bed. Another 50 people converged on the temporary shelter in Fullerton.

The armories appeared to have plenty of room. Each could hold 100 or more cots, officials said.

Some of those bedding down for the night in Santa Ana had been homeless for just a day. Others said they had been living on the streets for a decade. Many said they have been unable to make a steady living because of a history of mental illness, while some said they began to lose control of their lives after deaths in their families.

“This sure beats sleeping out in the cold in a pickup truck,” said Frank Wiercyski, 39, of Huntington Harbour, as he settled onto a green cot at the Santa Ana armory for the night. “I had been working day jobs but today I didn’t get sent out, so here I am.”

It was the first trip ever to a homeless shelter for Wiercyski, who, in better times, worked as a sound and light technician for a motion picture studio before being suspended two years ago. He said he and his girlfriend had been trying to stretch his meager earnings from odd jobs by sleeping half the week in motels and the other half in his pickup truck, parked behind the YMCA on Sycamore Street in Santa Ana.

Wiercyski said his life first took a turn for the worse two years ago when a security guard at work discovered him using drugs. He said he was suspended from his job and suddenly found himself unable to make a living. Last November, his mother and father died in an automobile accident, followed by the sudden death of his two children.

“It all just got to me,” he said. “Finally, I tried to shoot myself but my girlfriend wrestled the gun away from me and had me committed.”

Nearby, dozens of men and women waited in line for shelter volunteers to heap spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, peas and fresh fruit on their plates. Brian Blanchard, 33, of Whittier, was one.

Blanchard said he has lived on the street 10 years, most recently making his home in a vacant lot in Fullerton. He travels to Santa Ana regularly, he said, for the free feedings at various parks.

“I’ve tried living in shelters and stuff to keep me off the streets,” he said, between mouthfuls of chili. “But none of that ever seemed to work because they have too many restrictions on what you can and can’t do.”

Blanchard, who said he completed two years of college, has been unable to find steady work since 1979, when his mother remarried and his stepfather kicked him out of the house. Even if he were to find work, he said, he would not be able to afford an apartment.

Although dozens of people had arrived at the shelter by early evening, shelter officials said they had expected a larger turnout.