COSTA MESA : Homelessness in City to Be Subject of Talks

City officials will meet with church volunteers and social service agencies in the next couple weeks to learn more about the homeless population in the city, City Manager Allan L. Roeder said this week.

“Maybe we can learn who the homeless are by sitting down and talking to those who see them on a daily basis,” Roeder suggested at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “Maybe we can find out who’s holding these impromptu swap meets in Lions Park.”

Council members agreed to talk to the agencies and churches to learn more about who the homeless are and where they come from.

A full report will be due in two weeks when the council meets again.

The homeless have become more visible in the city in recent months, and some residents in the past month have complained to both police and City Hall about vagrants congregating at Lions Park, selling merchandise there and causing disturbances in the neighborhood.

Roeder said the homeless are misunderstood.

“A lot of people say they are drug addicts, but they’re not,” he said. “Many are mentally ill and were deinstitutionalized in the 1970s and released into the streets.”

Steven Isenman, a senior pastor for the First United Methodist Church, welcomes the discussions, scheduled for the end of the week or the beginning of next week.

“There’s a great mix of homeless and it’s good to know where they all come from,” said Isenman, who helps distribute hot meals to the homeless from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Soup Kitchen in the church building at 420 W. 19th St.

The Salvation Army and Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter are other groups the city plans to contact in its survey of the homeless.

Isenman said that the number of people coming in for hot meals has jumped to 300 from 150 in the past year.

“There’s a problem in the city and it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse,” he said.