Finally, a Place to Call Home : Health: Santa Monica facility provides housing for the mentally ill, expanding its self-help services.

For the last 15 years, mental illness has taken Rob Archibold on a dark journey through substance abuse, psychiatric hospitals, crisis shelters, street living and low-rent apartments.

But Archibold is finally seeing some daylight: He now lives in a sun-splashed, plant-filled studio apartment that provides views of the ocean and glorious sunsets. His new abode comes courtesy of Step Up on Second, a day center assisting adults with a history of mental illness that recently built a residence of 36 units on 2nd Street in Santa Monica to permanently house some of its clients.

“When I got this place, I was emotionally overwhelmed--I thought (it) was too good, and I almost felt guilty,” said Archibold, who is in his mid-30s. “I have my own room. I’ve gone from one extreme to another.”

It is a common refrain among the residence’s tenants, who after years of itinerant living marvel at their good luck in finding a permanent home.

For more than a decade, Step Up on Second has functioned as a halfway house for the mentally ill, many of whom have bounced between institutions and the streets. Besides providing a network of psychological and social referral services, it offers a mixture of self-help classes and counseling intended to foster self-esteem and independence. Courses in socialization skills, grooming, banking and budgeting are offered along with vocational training and job placement.

With its new housing units, Step Up on Second will be able to offer its clients even more hands-on help.

Last month, the nonprofit organization completed its long-awaited $4.3-million, four-story complex, which will allow new tenants greater access to its on-site programs. Funding came from an assortment of low-interest loans, public housing funds and tax credits for private investors. Tenants pay rent of $329 a month, including utilities, usually out of their disability checks.

Besides the 36 units of housing, the 2nd Street building includes conference rooms, an art and dance studio, and a spacious community room in the lobby with a large skylight. The hallways, colored in pastel aqua and pink, contribute to a bright and cheerful atmosphere.

“The facility has expanded our ability to work more thoroughly with participants and gives the opportunity for people to get off the street and try a different lifestyle, which is an advantage to the community,” said Susan Dempsay, executive director of Step Up on Second.

Many experts in the mental health field say the new building is a sorely needed resource for a community still reeling from the effects of a federal policy that deinstitutionalized the mentally ill in the 1970s and increasingly in the 1980s. The lack of community mental health centers left thousands of mentally disturbed people without adequate care or housing.

And the need for care has not dissipated. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that there are more than 40 million adults nationwide who suffer from mental disorders serious enough to require treatment each year.

For years, Santa Monica city officials have praised Step Up’s efforts to mitigate the plight of the mentally ill, and the organization has received a number of awards on the national, state and local levels. But the facility also has its critics, who say it attracts transients who make the streets more dangerous for nearby business owners and residents.

Step Up was created out of the personal experiences of Dempsay, whose son Mark was found, at age 18, to be schizophrenic. In 1978, shortly after scoring in the top 2% on his college entrance exams, Mark had a psychotic episode that required extensive hospitalization.

Four years of conventional treatment followed, but Dempsay was unsatisfied with its quality. She became determined to create a place for the mentally ill that would give them the independence to function in their communities rather than being relegated to permanent hospitalization or living in the streets.

Started in 1984, Step Up on Second now assists about 800 mentally ill people a year and operates on an annual budget of $1.2 million. Most of its funding comes from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and a mixture of state, city, federal housing grants and private donations.

The center is open every day for eight hours a day. About 66% of the clients are white males between 20 and 50 who are schizophrenic or manic-depressive.

At Step Up, the emphasis is on tough love and self-help. Along with receiving advice on treatment and medication, clients are encouraged to enroll in therapy, job skills classes and writing workshops.

“My goal is to get them to take responsibility for their lives--to make some change,” said Dempsay. “We’re not interested in just feeding and clothing and allowing them to continue their current lifestyle.”

Step Up attempts to create jobs for its members by working with the Santa Monica Sanitation Department and running its own thrift store in Mar Vista. Possible plans include a grocery store at the building’s entrance selling produce from the city’s farmers markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

But Dempsay said one of the center’s greatest advantages is the significant cost savings of providing rudimentary treatment and support, which keeps members out of expensive institutions. Costs of caring for someone in a state hospital can total more than $100,000 per year.

“Our average annual costs are about $1,000 per client, and $1,000 will buy you three days in a hospital--the savings are incredible,” she said. “We provide a better quality of life, get people to function independently and spend little of the taxpayers’ money.”

Despite past successes and expanded future programs, Step Up is struggling with a shortfall in its projected budget for the new center. Dempsay says the constant search for funding can be exhausting, and the possibility of government cutbacks is worrisome.

For years, Dempsay has also had to deal with criticism from some in the community who say unruly clients pose a threat to public safety.

“The incidents of antisocial behavior are long-running, and the approval process (by the city) waived any consideration of public safety,” said Leslie Dutton, executive director of the Citizen’s Protection Alliance, an anti-crime prevention organization.

Others oppose the center’s location.

“Our opinion all along is that the central business district in Santa Monica is not the place (for the facility). . . . It serves as a magnet for homeless people and makes the Third Street Promenade a less desirable place to go,” said Greg Laemmle, vice president of the Laemmle theater chain, which runs the Monica 4 Plex theaters next door.

But Dempsay says only 33% of Step Up’s members are homeless, down from about 60% a few years ago, and that the organization’s main goal remains working with the mentally ill.

Other supporters say many of the area’s social problems existed years before Step Up opened its facility.

Amid the controversy, one element seems sure--the lives of the new tenants have been transformed.

“This is like a dream come true,” said Robin Coleman, who has a history of mental illness and who is now the center’s receptionist.

“I just appreciate life itself--there’s something to look forward to. My future is secure, and I know I can take care of myself.”