If Not in Our Communities, Where? : * El Modena Shelter for the Mentally Ill Homeless Is a Small but Important Step

Last week’s groundbreaking for Orange County’s first shelter for mentally ill homeless people was welcome, and overdue. Amazingly, the facility will be the county’s first for the mentally ill homeless. And it is the result of seven years of battling for a site and money.

A report by the Homeless Issues Task Force last year estimated the number of homeless in the county at 12,000, an increase of 20% in just two years. The county must do more to help them, and certainly needs to provide more assistance to the homeless who are also mentally ill; that group may account for as much as 40% of all homeless people.

The county’s first building to shelter the mentally ill homeless is on Drew Way in El Modena, an unincorporated area that is surrounded by the city of Orange. Renovations on the building started last month; when fixed up and given an addition, it will house 12 people dormitory-style in its three bedrooms and will also have room for a live-in staff person.

Orange County Mental Health Services will screen and select the shelter residents, who suffer from various mental disabilities. The Episcopal Services Alliance will operate the facility, which also has benefited from donations from private companies. The project is a worthwhile partnership among government, a nonprofit agency and the private sector.

One of the highest hurdles faced by backers of the facility was strong opposition from neighbors. The county Planning Commission recommended against turning the building into a shelter, and community opposition forced the project sponsors to cut the number of beds from 19 to 12. The Board of Supervisors fortunately reversed the Planning Commission recommendation and approved the building, which will be called Beacon House, after imposing strict conditions on admissions and operations.

Beacon House is intended to help those with relatively minor mental disabilities learn how to function in the outside world. Giving the homeless medication to mitigate the effects of their illness and helping them develop skills are actions aimed at helping them re-enter society and lead what one mental health advocate called “a pretty normal life.”

The county’s mental health groups deserve credit for backing the Episcopal Service Alliance in its lengthy struggle for Beacon House. Mental health advocates said the groundbreaking sent a message to the community that society must make room for the mentally ill homeless. They are right. It’s a message that must be transmitted widely, and heeded.