HUNTINGTON BEACH : Youth Shelter Seeks Volunteer Labor

The Huntington Youth Shelter, six years in the making, is preparing to open either next month or in January.

Shelter officials are seeking volunteers to help put the finishing touches on the refurbished 4,000-square-foot building, originally a residence in the early 1900s.

Painters, cleaners, weeders, electricians and plumbers in particular are needed to complete work to allow the shelter to get a certificate of occupancy from the city.

A work “party” is scheduled for today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers are urged to bring gloves, shovels, rakes, hoes and household cleaning supplies.

They should call (714) 847-KIDS to let shelter officials know they are coming.

“It would be wonderful if people came out on Thanksgiving weekend, and we would be thankful,” said Carol Kanode, a school nurse at Huntington Beach and Ocean View high schools who started working on the youth shelter project in 1987.

The shelter is on city land in Huntington Central Park north of Talbert Avenue and near the Central Library. It will serve as many as 18 runaway and homeless boys and girls between 11 and 17 years old.

A professional staff will provide guidance, work to keep youngsters out of the juvenile justice system, teach tasks such as cooking and laundry, and counsel both youngsters and parents wanting to be reunited.

Maximum stay will be two weeks.

Executive Director Merritt Weiss said no accurate records are kept but it is believed that thousands of Orange County children run away from home each year and that Huntington Beach attracts many of them.