Zoe Center Proposes Moving Its Homeless Shelter to La Colonia

Frustrated by fruitless efforts to keep his financially troubled homeless shelter open at its present location, the Rev. Fred Judy announced plans Tuesday to move the shoestring operation to Oxnard’s La Colonia district.

Judy, founder of the Zoe Christian Center, told the Oxnard City Council that he wants to combine the year-round shelter for homeless families with Zoe’s facility for homeless women and children on Hayes Avenue at the western edge of the barrio.

Judy plans to renovate the 30-bed La Colonia shelter and expand it to house at least 60 people.

“We still have no place to go,” Judy told council members. “I’m asking you on the council to forget about our differences, let us put aside our biases, and let us work together to solve the homeless problem in Oxnard.”

Judy proposed moving the shelter to La Colonia in 1991 but met such stiff opposition that he eventually dropped those plans.

It doesn’t appear that the plan will be an easier sell this time.

“I would hope there are council members who realize we have our own homeless here,” said Carlos Aguilera, president of La Colonia Neighborhood Council. “We need to take people out of the toolsheds here and out of overcrowded housing before we can deal with somebody else’s homeless problem.”

Oxnard Housing Director Sal Gonzalez said that Judy has not submitted a formal application to move the shelter to La Colonia, and that the city has not determined whether zoning regulations and other building restrictions will allow expansion of the Colonia site.

“Right now, I’m still working under the City Council directive to help Zoe identify a permanent site,” Gonzalez said. “We want to work with them; we want to know what they are doing.”

Judy said the city’s refusal to renew Zoe’s operating permit is forcing relocation of the shelter.

The permit was denied in 1989 after fire officials said the center was too close to a yard where hazardous chemicals were stored. Zoe then commissioned its own study, which concluded that the Zoe site on Rose Avenue was free of contamination.

Nevertheless, Judy said the city has lost $300,000 a year in federal, state and local grants since denial of the permit.

Zoe sued the city in October, accusing officials of plotting to shut down the nonprofit agency because it is operated primarily by blacks and because it serves mostly African-American and Latino clients.

A Ventura County Superior Court judge last week dismissed the lawsuit, saying Zoe made allegations of discrimination without naming who was at fault. Judy said he plans to file an amended lawsuit.

“We had to do this for our survival,” Judy said of the relocation effort. “We contemplated just quitting, just giving it up. But when we saw all of the homeless people who needed help, we just couldn’t walk away.”

Judy said that state agencies have committed nearly $200,000 toward the relocation effort and that he expects more financial help.

He said he has not determined the cost of the move and the expansion of the 6,000-square-foot La Colonia shelter. He said plans call for adding a second story to the facility and building on an adjacent vacant lot.

Judy said that many La Colonia residents come to the shelter for food and clothing, and that he hopes to eventually persuade area residents to embrace the expansion.

“We need to let them see the value this will bring to their neighborhood,” Judy said. “Basically, what we need to do is educate them and get them out of the idea that we are creating a monster in their community.”