THOUSAND OAKS : Funds Sought for Homeless Drop-In Center

A proposed homeless drop-in center sparked angry opposition from neighbors, but the Thousand Oaks City Council unanimously voted to apply for federal funds to build the facility.

Furious neighbors have twice shot down other locations for the center, which would include showers, phones, typewriters and laundry machines.

Council members had thought the latest site, next to the Human Services Center at 80 E. Hillcrest Drive, might be more acceptable because homeless people already travel to the area to pick up social security checks, receive free medical care, and use other services.

But during Tuesday’s lively 90-minute discussion, half a dozen senior citizens living in the nearby Hillcrest Royale housing complex protested the notion of a center in their neighborhood.

“We want to feel safe and secure in our home, and we don’t feel we would if that drop-in center is approved,” Hillcrest Royale Administrator Barbara Lipka said. In applying for a $300,000 federal grant, Thousand Oaks must specify a site for the drop-in center.

With the application due May 21, the city does not have time to find an alternative location now--but could come up with another proposal later without forfeiting the federal funds, staff members said.

Although the grant application is just the first, preliminary step toward a drop-in center--the blueprints for the proposed facility must still face public hearings--opponents mobilized early. “We want to try to nip it in the bud,” said Manuel Aftergut, who owns the Hillcrest Royale.

But Jim Kinville, vice president of the Conejo Homeless Assistance Program, angrily countered neighbors’ concerns about safety. “I deeply resent anyone casting the homeless as being undesirable, criminal elements, or anything less than decent, respectable people,” he said. “They’re our own citizens.”