Homeless Aid Group Begins Its 5th Year

The Hope Network, an interdenominational San Fernando Valley group that helps homeless people, this week begins its fifth consecutive year aiding the homeless by providing a place to live, food, transportation and job search assistance.

The group selects 12 homeless people willing to change their lives and accept help over a sustained period. For three months beginning Sunday, the network’s guests will be provided living quarters in several Valley churches and synagogues, given cooked meals and assisted in hunting for work.

“Some of the people who come to us have tremendous talent,” said network member Rabbi Don Goor of Temple Judea in Tarzana. “Each one of them has had some kind of catastrophe in their lives, and somehow fell through the net of social services. When they stay with us, they usually are able to help themselves get back on their feet. If they find work, they can save some money while living here and eating at no cost.”

Goor said the program this year is slightly more structured than previous years. It is the first year that the network, funded by state and federal grants, will require guests to sign contracts agreeing to “a disciplined commitment to seek work with specific steps of achievement along the way.”

To be accepted into the program, applicants must be drug- and alcohol-free, may possess no weapons and must be able to interact well with others.

“We had to realize our limitations,” Goor said. “We’re not trained to help people who have severe emotional or drug abuse problems.”

Participants will reside at several locations around the Valley over the course of the program, including St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in Chatsworth and Temple Beth Hillel and Metropolitan Community Church, both in North Hollywood.

They receive bedding, towels, health care items, access to showers, free bus passes and three meals a day.

“The reason it works is because the volunteers are there for them,” Goor said. “They get help in a caring environment.”

The Hope Network is sponsored by the Valley Interfaith Council. For more information, contact Rabbi Goor at (818) 987-2616.