Building a Reputation for Aiding the Homeless : Construction: HomeAid, a group formed by O.C. builders, has put up 17 shelters for the poor in the past five years.

HomeAid will be 5 years old this month, and the group formed to provide shelter for the homeless has much to celebrate.

The nonprofit organization, started in June, 1989, by the building industry in Orange County, has completed 17 shelters with more than 300 beds. Three more shelters are now being built.

The group focuses on the so-called transitionally homeless--people who are in immediate need of shelter because of job loss, illness or desertion by a spouse. The number of homeless people in Orange County at any given time, including those temporarily on the streets, is estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000.

Though politically conservative Orange County is not usually considered a hotbed of social activism, the program has been highly successful, said Mike Lennon, executive director for HomeAid Orange County. The reason, Lennon said, is that the program doesn’t just seek cash, it asks people to contribute materials and skills.

And because some of the nation’s premier home builders, developers, construction companies and contractors are based here, the resources are available. “The local builders here have been involved in all sorts of charities here for years,” Lennon said. “I think most people will help the disadvantaged if you show them a way.”

HomeAid is a one-of-a-kind program, Lennon said. In contrast to Habitat for Humanity, which builds single-family homes nationwide for the working poor, it offers temporary shelter to people in dire need.

Lennon, 47, regards himself as a sort of real estate broker for the homeless.

“I take needs and resources and put them together,” he said. “Really, HomeAid works because of this wonderful collaboration of contractors, suppliers and businesses.”

A nonprofit arm of the Orange County chapter of the Building Industry Assn., a national trade group, HomeAid now has chapters in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The next goal, Lennon said, is to go national.

Because the program has a specific focus, Lennon said, he is optimistic that the idea will spread.

“We deliberately chose the transitionally homeless because people could see their investment pay off and see the homeless get back on their feet,” he said. “And they were doing what they do best--they were coming out to help with their craft.”

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Despite the severe real estate downturn of the past four years, local developers and contractors have contributed more than $4.4 million in cash and provided more than 200,000 volunteer hours to HomeAid.

Lennon, formerly a public relations spokesman for the Building Industry Assn., says he took a pay cut to become director of the HomeAid program. A Chicago native who has lived in California since 1968, he said he can’t imagine anything he’d rather be doing.

“I love the fact that the end result of our work is that we help people with a new shot at life,” he said.

Bart Hansen, a principal with Newport Beach builder Shawntana Development, worked on the first HomeAid project, which was a 13-bed shelter in Irvine.

“One roofer, if we’d asked him for $300, would’ve balked,” Hansen said. “But we could ask him for a $7,000 roof, and he could get his arms around that. That’s why HomeAid has been so successful. We’re asking our membership to do what they do best.”

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Among the HomeAid projects are House of Hope, a 45-bed shelter for homeless women and children in Orange, Shelter for the Homeless in Westminster and the 42-bed El Modena Shelter.

“It’s a natural fit for the home building industry to be involved in homeless issues,” said Tim Shaw, executive director of Homeless Issues Task Force of Orange County. The nonprofit group has worked with HomeAid on several shelter programs.

L.C. (Bob) Albertson Jr., an executive with Newport Beach builder Presley Cos., is another HomeAid proponent and serves on the group’s board of directors.

“Our whole company is behind the HomeAid project,” Albertson said. “It’s a natural. We can bring contractors and everyone together to do what we do best--build.”