SANTA ANA : Children, Mothers Get Home, Hope

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday for YWCA Second Stage Housing Project, a facility for homeless women and their children that YWCA officials say will be the first of its kind in Orange County.

The four-bedroom facility will house up to 15 women and their children. The women will receive help in getting jobs, will be charged low rent to help them save for permanent housing, and their children will be enrolled in an adjacent day-care center, said Mary Douglas, director of the Santa Ana YWCA.

“Hopefully, it will be a demonstration model for what can happen in other cities in Orange County,” Douglas said. “The need for this type of housing is absolutely critical. It can really make a difference in the lives of women alone with their children. This will provide a strong foundation for them that we hope will last for the rest of their lives.”

The housing project is expected to open in September. It will be above the YWCA Child Care Center at 1307 N. Durant St.

Residents will be selected from among those who have participated in programs at the YWCA’s Hotel for Women, a 38-bed facility that gets women off the street for up to 60 days, said Dianne Russell, hotel director.

“What this will provide is the next step,” Russell said.

The $50,000 project was made possible through the help of Building Industry Assn.’s HomeAid program, a nonprofit effort to build and renovate homeless shelters.

Several companies have donated or discounted building materials and provided labor for the project.

“A lot of the companies had never been asked to help with something like this except for maybe monetary donations,” said Victoria Jeans Weaver of the Homeless Foundation, a nonprofit organization working with HomeAid.

“By donating labor and supplies, the companies feel like part of the solution,” Weaver said. “This is an example of the public and private sectors working together so that we can begin to provide the resources so desperately needed in Orange County.”