For Laguna Shanti, a Life-Saver : AIDS: Two grants, along with contributions from the community, will keep the cash-strapped center open at least until the end of the year.

Three weeks after announcing that a financial crisis was threatening to close Laguna Shanti next month, the director of the AIDS support group said Wednesday that at least two grants and a rally of community support have rescued the center.

The most significant boosts came from the Irvine Health Foundation, which on Tuesday offered Laguna Shanti $15,000, and from AIDS Walk Orange County, which announced Wednesday that it will give the center $10,000.

In addition, several thousand dollars was raised in the community.

AIDS Walk, the county’s largest such fund-raiser, had denied Laguna Shanti’s earlier request for at least $35,000 from the $500,000 raised by the walk this year, saying the organization “did not merit funding” compared to the other applicants.

AIDS Walk director Joann Ruden would not say Wednesday why the organization’s board of directors decided to give the “special grant” of $10,000 to Laguna Shanti. She did say that the money will come from a reserve fund and will not affect the distribution of the $500,000, which is to be divided among 10 other Orange County AIDS service groups.

Laguna Shanti director Judith Doyle had appealed to the AIDS Walk board to reconsider funding for Laguna Shanti.

Doyle said the two grants, along with other monies generated by fund-raising efforts, will help keep the center open until 1993, at which time Laguna Shanti will be poised to compete for federal and state grants, including an estimated $1.3 million in federal funding expected to pour into Orange County next year.

“We are elated,” Doyle said. “It affords us an opportunity to quell and reduce the fears of our clients. We’ve had lots of inquiries from clients afraid we were going to close and go away.”

Last month, Doyle announced that, without a quick influx of cash, Laguna Shanti might close by Sept. 1. Doyle said at the time that the financial crisis was prompted, in part, by AIDS Walk’s decision not to fund Laguna Shanti.

Laguna Shanti’s critics said that the center’s financial woes were largely the result of earlier mismanagement at the center and that Laguna Shanti should close so that a more efficiently run organization, such as the larger Irvine-based AIDS Services Foundation, could take its place in Laguna Beach.

Some observers, including the county’s AIDS coordinator Penny Weismuller, have questioned whether Laguna Shanti’s past problems will make it difficult for the center to compete for valuable federal and state funds, which are sometimes based partly on an organization’s success rate.

But supporters say Laguna Shanti, which opened five years ago, is critically needed in Laguna Beach, a city that has one of the highest per capita rates of AIDS in the nation. Some observers have also said the demise of Laguna Shanti, one of three key AIDS service groups in Orange County, would be a humiliation for the city of Laguna Beach.

“Overall Laguna Shanti is very much needed and very appreciated by many of the clients I see,” said Laguna Beach psychologist Richard Ammon. “It’s a crucial organization. It would be an embarrassment to the community in Laguna Beach, where the per capita incidence of AIDS is so high, to have this modest organization close.”

Since the center’s financial crisis became public last month, the community response has been spotty. Initial attempts to rally support were “not tremendously successful,” Doyle said earlier this week. For example, one attempt to raffle off a donated television set did not even generate enough money to pay for the television, Doyle said.

Laguna Beach Mayor Robert F. Gentry, however, who helped purchase the set for the raffle, said the center simply could not close down.

“Laguna Shanti must survive,” Gentry said earlier this month. “If it goes, we should all hang our heads.”

Suddenly, the picture seems to be brightening for Laguna Shanti, which will hold a press conference Friday at 10 a.m. to reveal other possible funding sources and to discuss the center’s future.

Doyle said she is now feeling more confident.

“We know we’re doing something right here,” she said. “It’s just beating the clock to make sure we stay open while we continue to develop our financial base for longevity. And we’re committed to doing it.”