DANA POINT : Soup Kitchen Tries to Rally Support

Like the homeless people they shelter and serve daily meals to, the operators of a Dana Point soup kitchen and halfway house are learning what it’s like to be running out of money and time.

Told by the City Council last month to shut down immediately because the soup kitchen lacked a city permit, Marc Ely-Chaitlin, operator of the nonprofit shelter at 33912 Olinda Drive, found a reprieve in a provision of a local ordinance.

The city law grants alleged code violators time to comply with the ordinance. Ely-Chaitlin’s organization, known as the Mildred Rose Memorial Foundation, has been given until June 3 to find a new location for the soup kitchen or apply for a permit to operate the shelter at its present site.

Ely-Chaitlin and his staff have been using to the time to rally community support, sending letters to local churches and making phone calls to civic leaders and city officials in hopes of persuading the city to lend a hand in establishing a permanent home for the shelter.

And as the city’s deadline looms, business goes on as usual at the soup kitchen, although Ely-Chaitlin said sometimes only a handful of people show up because many think the shelter has already closed.

“That couldn’t be farther from the truth,” he said. “We’re still here and we’re still serving free food to the poor and hungry in south Orange County.”

But to continue the soup kitchen’s work, the organization needs a site in an industrial or business complex. So far, he hasn’t found one.

The group also still needs contributions to pay for the $1,900 cost of filing an application to allow the shelter to remain on Olinda Drive, although Ely-Chaitlin may ask the city to waive the permit fee.

The June 3 deadline might be stretched a little further if the organization shows a good-faith effort to raise funds and relocate, said Kit Fox, a city planner. But otherwise, “I don’t know how inclined we are to extend them any more time.”

If the city decides not to grant another extension to the shelter operators, a nuisance complaint will be given to City Atty. Jerry Patterson for possible legal action that could result in eviction, Fox said. But one way or another, Ely-Chaitlin said he’s determined to keep providing food and shelter for the homeless.

“There is a desperate need in the area for our service that is turning into an emergency situation,” he said. “And we are not going away.”