Countywide : Charity Is Seeking County Aid

Saddleback Community Outreach, worried that it is not reaching enough South County families that are homeless or in immediate need of money to pay utility bills and buy groceries, has petitioned the county for $209,035 in community development funds.

This is the first time that the 5-year-old nonprofit charity has applied for grants from the county’s housing authority.

“We have to turn away about 150 families a year,” said volunteer Nancy Hodson, who along with volunteer Nancy Snyder, spent weeks poring over the grant applications.

If it receives the money, the organization would nearly double in size, as last year’s budget was approximately $120,000.

The grant would go toward renting more unused condominiums and motel rooms for temporary quarters for the homeless, as well as undertaking a comprehensive study of South County’s homeless.

“The main problem we have is that people don’t know there is a homeless problem in South Orange County,” said organization founder Ray Havert. “A survey would solve that.”

The group also hopes to hire a second full-time employee to meet with clients and decide how they can best be helped. Most of the group’s work is accomplished by more than 100 volunteers.

The majority of Saddleback’s clients are families hurt by the loss of jobs or women who, along with their children, have been abandoned or neglected by their husbands or boyfriends. The organization’s mission is to help families before they end up living on the streets or out of their cars.

Hodson said Saddleback Community Outreach is looking for charitable trusts or foundations to help it meet its goals, especially if longer-established and more visible charities are awarded the Urban Community Development Block Grants for which the outreach group has applied.