Agencies That Help Homeless Applaud 23 Success Stories

Fed up with negative images of the homeless, a coalition of Westside social service agencies gathered Thursday in Santa Monica to celebrate the success of their clients.

At a beachfront ceremony, 23 formerly homeless people were congratulated by members of the Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition. The 25-agency coalition was founded in 1982 in response to the growing number of homeless people seeking help at churches and synagogues.

“The news about the success stories never gets out enough and most people need to be reminded about why this work should be supported,” said Vivian Rothstein, an executive committee member of the coalition and executive director of the Ocean Park Community Center in Santa Monica.

Designed to highlight the achievements of the honorees, the ceremony also served to counter what organizers said was the use of the homeless as a political issue. For the past several years in Santa Monica, council members up for reelection have had to defend themselves against challengers’ charges that they catered to the homeless.

“People run for office and try to use homelessness against each other for a variety of goals,” Rothstein said.

The ceremony was attended by the mayors of Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood and the vice mayor of Beverly Hills, and state Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles).

Rothstein, whose agency offers services ranging from transitional housing to emergency food, said coalition members decided that since the public usually hears only about negative stories involving the homeless, members needed to showcase the positive.

“We wanted to remind everyone that homeless people are human beings and individuals with unique stories,” Rothstein said.

Those honored told stories of how they ended up on the streets for reasons ranging from mental illness and abusive spouses to drug addiction. Some said the key to their new life was finding support in service agencies for the homeless.

Those agencies helped Marvetta Olivio find a way off the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Two years ago, Olivio said she homeless and addicted to heroin and cocaine.

Today, Olivio lives in a Venice apartment, owns a car and works as an office manager. “I even have two cats,” she said. She credits the Venice-based St. Joseph Center for making the accomplishments possible.

Olivio first found her way to the Sojourn’s Battered Women Shelter in Santa Monica. From there, she landed a federally subsidized apartment through a St. Joseph Center program.

“You have to have programs like these to help people,” Olivio said.