Ozarks Music Mecca Off Key for Homeless : Branson: Service- industry jobs are plentiful, but most offer no health benefits and pay little more than minimum wage--not enough to pay the high rents.

John Mabeus had heard all about Branson--the fast-growing entertainment mecca of the Ozarks--so when his employer went bankrupt, he headed West to look for work.

He was in for a surprise. Branson has provided a home for Anita Bryant, John Davidson and Bobby Vinton, but there was no place for John Mabeus.

“There’s work everywhere but there’s no place to stay,” said Mabeus, a 29-year-old heavy equipment operator from Severna Park, Md. “I can’t believe all those stars, with all their money, can’t get together and build some affordable housing. All guys need is a place to shower and sleep.”

So Mabeus is homeless in Springfield, 35 miles north. And he is not alone.

From homeless shelters to food pantries, relief organizations are swamped with people who end up in Springfield, a city of about 145,000, because they can’t find affordable housing or make a decent living in Branson.

“This Branson thing is getting progressively more serious,” said Ellie Widmer, director of the Missouri Hotel, the city’s largest shelter. “When people go there with nothing, they are marked for failure. I know hundreds and hundreds are doing it.”

Most of those seeking assistance are not the stereotypical homeless, afflicted with mental illness or drug and alcohol problems, relief officials say. Many have housing and commute to jobs in Branson but need occasional help paying for groceries, rent and medical care.

“Many of these people are what I call the ‘new poor,’ ” said the Rev. Dorsey Levell, executive director of the Council of Churches of the Ozarks, based in Springfield. “These are people who want to work, who are . . . getting employed in Branson in a matter of hours.

“But there’s no place to live, so they come to Springfield. Their social needs fall on the people of Springfield, from the single man who freezes out and comes to The Kitchen (a shelter) to families that are out of money.”

Branson has received national attention for its 30-plus music theaters featuring top country and pop acts, which lure 5 million visitors a year. The town of 3,700 has exploded into a mini-Las Vegas, minus gambling.

Springfield, too, has prospered. Tourists bound for Branson spent almost $30 million here in 1992, according to one study.

But job seekers often are caught in a cruel Catch-22.

Although service-industry jobs are plentiful in Branson, most offer no health benefits and pay little more than minimum wage--not enough to pay the high rents Branson landlords can demand.

As a result, some people hold jobs while living out of vehicles, trailers and tents in campgrounds. A late-fall survey by social service agencies found more than 250 people homeless or under-housed in Branson, although the actual number is believed to be much higher.

Relief officials say they don’t know how many people who hoped to find a good job and shelter in Branson have given up and moved to Springfield to seek help from social service agencies and charities.

But this unwelcome aspect of Branson’s boom has been felt at the Victory Mission, whose 65 beds have been filled beyond capacity since mid-October.

At Crosslines, a local assistance agency operated by the Council of Churches of the Ozarks, requests for food and clothing are up 15% over this time last year, Levell said.

And at the Ozarks Food Harvest, a branch of the church organization that supplies food to 300 social service agencies in the region, demand is also up 10% to 15%, he said.

“We really can’t equate that except for Branson,” Levell said. “The only thing we can equate it to is the influx of people into this area.”

Kim Lindell and Lorrie Gavin and their two daughters came to Branson so Kim could work as a plasterer, but he hurt his back. After camping out in their van for four days, the family got gas money from a Branson church to get to the Missouri Hotel.

Widmer said the hotel is filled with similar stories.

“Working minimum-wage jobs, there’s no way they can find an affordable place to live in Branson,” she said. “As a result, there’s an increase in homelessness, poverty and family problems. These people are suffering.”

Drawn by tales of Branson he saw on television, Mabeus hitchhiked from Maryland in December, arriving broke and with blistered feet. The police directed him to a motel that put him up for free for one night, then he moved on to Springfield and the Missouri Hotel.

Mabeus said he’s met about 20 others in his situation at the shelter--men with construction backgrounds who are hard workers but can’t work because of a lack of affordable housing in Branson.

What Branson needs, relief officials say, is several hundred low-income homes or trailer homes--unlikely because of the astronomical price of land, which continues to sprout new theaters, restaurants, motels and golf courses.

Groundbreaking is set for summer on the first phase of a private housing complex that will include eight low-cost apartments and a child-care center. But that’s just a drop in the bucket, officials say.

Tony Orlando and other Branson entertainers have held fund-raisers to help remedy the housing shortage. And relief officials say they appreciate the boost Branson’s thriving tourism industry has given to the economy.

But Widmer said the stars and attractions that reap millions in tourist dollars must do more to relieve the desperate housing situation for the labor force--starting with opening their pocketbooks.

“I think they have a moral responsibility to take care of the byproduct of their success,” she said.