O.C. Agencies Get $7.2 Million to Aid Homeless

Agencies serving Orange County’s homeless have received a $7.2-million federal grant that will allow officials to double shelter capacity and expand help for needy people, who range from drug addicts and the mentally ill to battered women and the disabled.

Officials said the money will help the county and about 20 other government and nonprofit agencies improve services for a homeless population in Orange County estimated at nearly 16,000.

Some of the funding will permit restoration of services that were cut back following the county’s 1994 bankruptcy filing.

“It’s going to make a real difference over the next couple of years,” said Rick Efker, community development manager for the county’s housing and redevelopment office.

“I think it’s really going to affect the number of people you see on the street, pushing shopping carts and things like that.”

The funds, to be spent over three years, will allow officials to boost the number of shelter beds to about 1,600, from 800, and increase services for substance abusers and the mentally ill, two groups in greatest need.

In addition, the grant will fund a facility for homeless people infected with the AIDS virus and expand services for battered women, children and disabled people.

“It represents the single biggest expenditure for homeless services ever in Orange County,” said Tim Shaw, who until recently headed the coalition of nonprofit groups that joined with the county to apply for the grant.

The money was awarded Friday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of a package of $675 million that will be distributed for homeless programs--from emergency shelters to job training--for 300,000 people nationwide.

“The Clinton administration is working to help homeless Americans move from welfare and dependence to jobs and self-sufficiency,” HUD Secretary Henry G. Cisneros said in announcing the grants.

Orange County officials plan to use that money for new and expanded services, such as converting barracks at the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station, which is marked for closure, into a 192-bed facility.

One agency plans to establish a 25-bed shelter in Santa Ana for men and women with HIV. Another will focus on immigrant families seeking help on domestic violence issues. Yet another group seeks to make shelters more accessible to those who are physically and mentally disabled.

Efker said the agencies hope to attack causes of homelessness, such as mental illness or joblessness, by emphasizing counseling and other long-term remedies.

A network of nonprofit agencies managing 10 temporary shelters plans to use its $950,000 to provide child care so that parents can get jobs.

“If we’re going to return homeless families to stability, that is a real priority need,” said Barbara W. Johnson, executive director of Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Service Inc., which runs one of those transitional shelters.

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Housing Needs

A $7.2-million federal grant will help Orange County expand shelter capacity for various groups in need. In addition to 10,000 units of housing stock for the homeless, here are the groups the county says need shelter, and how many beds:

Group Beds

Families: 5,210

Singles: 3,261

Mentally ill: 2,008

Domestic violence: 1,486

Substance abuse: 1,353

HIV/AIDS: 1,194

Disabilities: 754

Homeless youth: 292

Source: Orange County