A Port in the Storm : Temporary Shelter for Homeless Men Erected on Oxnard Lot

The Seabees who were erecting a giant tent on a weed-covered lot in Oxnard captured Charlie Rhinehart’s complete attention.

Since the Ventura County Rescue Mission’s homeless shelter went up in flames on July 5, homeless men such as Rhinehart have eagerly awaited the temporary shelter that the tent will provide.

“When you’re forced to sleep outside, it’s no fun,” said Rhinehart, 57, who slept in an open field the first night after the fire. “I’m not enjoying this situation. Anyone would rather be inside.”

Eleven U. S. Navy Seabees from Port Hueneme spent nearly three hours erecting the 3,200-square-foot tent on a lot at 6th and Meta streets.

“We pitched one for the Boy Scouts,” said Seabee construction worker James O’Brien, 20, after he pounded an aluminum pole into the dirt. “We pitched one for our Seabees party. This is the first time I’ve done one of these for the homeless.”

The 40-by-80-foot tent was loaned by L. A. Party Rents and raised by the 31st Naval Construction Battalion on land owned by Oxnard’s redevelopment agency.

Up to 51 homeless men will live in the tent until the rescue mission can rebuild its 68-bed dormitory on 6th Street.

In a short ceremony before the construction began, politicians and community leaders pledged to help ease bureaucratic tangles for the mission. And at least one movie star is helping to raise money for the permanent shelter.

Associate mission director Carol Roberg recruited George Kennedy, the barrel-chested actor known for his roles in “The Naked Gun,” “The Dirty Dozen” and “Cool Hand Luke,” to appear in a televised appeal for funds. Officials said they did not know when the pitch would air.

“We live in Oxnard, and we knew about the fire instantly,” Kennedy said. “We’re going to do anything we can.”

Steven L. Kinney, the city’s redevelopment director, said the rescue mission was granted a 90-day temporary use permit to pitch a tent on the lot.

City leaders, however, vowed to allow the mission, which also runs a rehabilitation program, to use the lot indefinitely until the group raises enough money to rebuild.

“When you weigh the good the mission does, you can’t express it in terms of dollars and cents,” Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi said. “We’ll just extend that permit as long as necessary.”

Rhinehart, who was one of a group of homeless men who watched the Seabees from a bakery across the street, said the tent-raising was a form of homecoming.

After the fire, many of the men moved first to an emergency shelter set up by the Red Cross at the Oxnard High School gym. When that shelter folded, they were moved to the First Baptist Church in Oxnard.

Many of the men have missed being able to take regular showers, Rhinehart said.

“I’ve had to go skinny-dipping at the beach or use the showers at the marina,” he said.

Don (Gabby) Hopper, a night watchman for the mission, said some staff workers who were housed in the second floor of the dormitory are sharing rooms with other staff members in an apartment house that the rescue mission owns.

“We’ve got three guys to a room, but we’re getting by,” he said.

After the fire many transients left town for shelters farther up the coast, said Phil Wehry, an intake manager for the mission. But some of them are starting to return, he said.

On Tuesday, he estimated that 51 homeless men would check in for the night.

“I was tempted to leave, but I have nowhere else to go,” said Dan Shaw, 23, who arrived in Oxnard about a month ago from Santa Fe, N. M., after he lost his job as a security guard. A rodeo accident left Shaw with a limp and chronic arthritis that has prevented him from sleeping outside.

“I’m just wondering what will be in here, cots or beds, “ he said, watching Seabees cover the tall frame of the tent with a white acrylic tarpaulin. “I guess I’ll find out tonight.”