PLACENTIA : Building Industry Aids Shelter Project

A project to increase the capacity of a transitional living shelter is getting a boost from Home Aid, a nonprofit division of the Building Industry Assn.

The Homeless Intervention and Shelter House, known as HIS House, is on Bradford Avenue next to the Placentia Presbyterian Church, which oversees its operation.

The two-story facility opened in October, 1989, and provides housing for homeless families and individuals for up to 90 days.

According to Denise Eastin, chairwoman of the committee that supervises the transitional living program, Placentia Presbyterian had planned for several years to convert a meeting hall attached to the facility into additional living space.

But the church was not able to repay a loan of more than $200,000, which it borrowed from the Presbyterian synod to purchase the facility.

Last June, HIS House received a state grant to repay the loan and begin the renovation process. About the same time, Home Aid agreed to assist.

“The timing was perfect,” Eastin said. “We wouldn’t have been able to use Home Aid’s assistance without the state money.”

Home Aid helps programs that have received the bulk of money to either build or renovate shelters that provide housing for homeless families and individuals. The help is in the form of donations of labor and materials from contractors.

“We identify care providers that have a strong mission statement, a good track record and offer good support service,” said Mike Lennon, executive director of Home Aid for Southern California.

Once a project is chosen to receive Home Aid assistance, a builder captain, usually a developer, is assigned to it.

The builder captain provides leadership to the project and is responsible for coordinating the work.

The goal, Lennon said, is to get all labor and materials donated, but in most cases the facility pays for a portion of the project. Home Aid will also provide some money for the project if necessary.

In the case of HIS House, builder captain Van Heflin of A-M Homes has made the difference between a do-it-yourself weekend project and a first-rate professional job, Eastin said.

“We have a large number of volunteers from the church and the community working on this project, but having professional work on the project means this is being done first-class,” Eastin said.

When the HIS House project is completed, the facility will have six bedrooms that will accommodate 29 people.

One of the rooms will be large enough for a family of eight, a size that Eastin said most facilities can’t handle.

A new kitchen, dining area, living room, two bathrooms and a laundry room will also be added.

More than 900 companies are involved in the efforts of Home Aid, which has completed 15 projects since it began in 1989.

The organization has five regions in the state: Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and the Antelope Valley area.

Home Aid’s Orange County region is involved in five other projects: a youth shelter in Huntington Beach, a shelter for abused women and their children in Costa Mesa, an Orange facility for people with from mental illness and homeless shelters in Santa Ana and Orange.

Orange County has been the most prolific of the regions, with more than $3 million in cash and in-kind donations received from the building industry.