COSTA MESA : Disabled and Now Homeless

Bright and early Tuesday morning, two Orange County marshals awakened Trayce Schulein to move her out of her apartment.

The 35-year-old disabled woman was being evicted under court order for failing to pay her $470 monthly rent. Schulein said she refused to pay the rent because the landlord would not respond to her requests for repairs and maintenance, including fixing the toilet and spraying for roaches.

After appealing to the City Council, the Fair Housing Commission and the public, Schulein has been put up in a hotel for a week. After that, her fate is one big question mark.

“They helped me bag up my personal belongings--pillows, sheets, covers and clothing--and put everything in my car,” she said Tuesday afternoon at a deli across the street from the Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled in Anaheim.

About 50 people have responded with offers to help Schulein, a former Newport Beach title company agent who hurt her back two years ago. She spent her first day out of her apartment returning some of those phone calls, hoping to secure temporary housing. She said she has been through surgery, is awaiting a decision on whether she will receive workers’ compensation and cannot work in the meantime.

Schulein said she cannot sit or stand for long periods of time, and has been told by doctors to stay in bed.

The experience has left her wise to the problems of the poor and homeless, which could soon count her among its ranks if she does not find suitable housing.

“Go and talk to the people in line at the welfare office. I’ve been there and they all talk,” she said, adding that many people there blame physical injuries and illness for contributing to their situations.

Schulein’s apartment troubles began earlier this year when she said she asked the management to install window locks, spray for cockroaches, fix an unsteady toilet and repair what she considered a dangerous bathroom fan that she said threw sparks when she turned it on.

When those repairs weren’t made, she called the Orange County Fair Housing Commission to see about forcing the landlords to fix the apartment, she said.

Telephone calls to the manager’s office of Martinique Apartments were not returned Tuesday.

Schulein’s predicament has also brought to light the shortage of shelters for homeless people who are physically disabled. There are six beds at the Dayle McIntosh center. Another such shelter serves Los Angeles County.

Other shelters, such as the Interfaith Shelter, would not bar handicapped people such as Schulein, who can walk with the aid of a cane, said Jean Forbath, former director of the Costa Mesa charity Share Our Selves and also active in issues dealing with the homeless and poor.