Doors Open for Homeless : Shelter: National Guard armories in Santa Ana and Fullerton provide welcome relief for those in need.

They began arriving three hours before the doors opened Monday at the National Guard Armory, some alone, some dirty and tattered, and some with children in tow.

As the doors swung open at 5 p.m., they filed in, unfolded canvas cots and made beds out of Army blankets. Though they came from many backgrounds, there were at least two things they had in common: homelessness and an acute desire to get out of the rain.

“I spent last night in front of the morgue,” said Bernadette Peters, 46, who had been without a home for about a month. “It was very, very cold. About 2 a.m. I walked over to the police lobby to warm up for a couple of hours. I got a very, very bad cold; it’s a godsend for this place to open up.”

Don Chandeler, 60, who spent a “cold and miserable” night sleeping in the city’s Civic Center, said: “At least you can come here, get a shower, get a shave and get cleaned up enough to be presentable.”

Monday was the first night this winter that Orange County opened its two National Guard armories--in Santa Ana and Fullerton--to homeless people. State regulations allow the county to open the armories when temperatures dip to 40 degrees or when it rains and the temperature is 50 degrees or less. In addition, the state has allowed the armories to be open every night from Dec. 15 to March 15 regardless of the weather.

Original plans called for the local armories to open next week, according to Maria Mendoza, the county’s homeless issues coordinator. But with heavy rainfall over the weekend and temperatures expected to be in the mid- to upper 40s Monday night, she said, the schedule was stepped up.

“We sort of got caught with the bad weather,” Mendoza said. “I can’t remember a time in the last five years when the cold weather started right on Dec. 1. I felt badly every time I went home (over the weekend) and it was cold.”

With another storm expected to arrive later this week, she said, county officials hope to keep both armories open every night until March 15.

“The need is out there,” said Jim Miller, executive director of Shelter for the Homeless, a Westminster-based nonprofit agency contracted by the county to operate the armories. “It’s very difficult for homeless people when they don’t know whether the armories are open or closed. We want to offer them the ability to know where to go.”

Indeed, the response to Monday’s opening was greater than expected at the armories, each of which has a capacity of 125. The Santa Ana armory was filled, and 80 spent the night at the Fullerton shelter.

“This is a busy night,” Mendoza said, adding that as word of available shelter spreads, future nights are likely to be even busier.

A bus Monday had made stops at several area parks to pick up homeless people bound for the armories. Inside the gymnasium-like buildings, each person was issued a blanket and assigned a cot. Later they were fed hot dogs and chili and given opportunities to take hot showers. In the morning, breakfast is served and all guests must be out by 7:30.

Most takers seemed grateful for the attention.

Said Robert Nelson Blake, 56: “I spent last night in a mud puddle. It was wet and nasty. This will be better.”