They Aren’t Homeless for Holidays

VENTURA — Not many people would find the idea of spending the holidays in a homeless shelter very merry. But that may depend on one’s perspective.

Those at the Salvation Army Transitional Living Center on Oak Street in downtown Ventura will tell you that for them, the spirit of Christmas is greater this year precisely because they are in transition.

“The emotional meaning of Christmas is very strong here,” said Theresa Wheeler, 35. “The physical difference of not being in our home doesn’t take away from that meaning.”

Founded in 1994, the center--the only place in Ventura County where homeless people are guaranteed a place more than one night at a time--has 41 beds, including rooms for eight families and nine single women. Its programs include assistance in securing permanent jobs and housing and classes in parenting skills. It is funded almost entirely by donations.

The center is affiliated with the Ventura Salvation Army congregation on Petit Street, where Bible study and Methodist worship services convene every Sunday. These religious services also are available to the temporary residents.

Program Manager Ellen Rowley said that in exchange for all the support they receive, Living Center residents must find work within 30 days and may stay at the center a maximum of six months. Last year the center served 86 adults and 69 children. It receives 10 calls a day from families looking for help.

“We don’t keep a waiting list, because we wouldn’t be able to keep track of them all,” Rowley said. “By the end of the week there would be 50 people on it.”

For Wheeler and most of the 41 temporary residents at the Living Center, this is the first Christmas they have been homeless. Most have been evicted within the past six months, and many have experienced serious drug and alcohol problems.

Although some of the residents at the Living Center miss their homes, rough times have made them grateful for a safe and clean place to stay and a chance at starting over.

“If I weren’t here, there just wouldn’t be a Christmas,” said Julie Allen, 32. “We might have been in our own home, but we wouldn’t have had any money to celebrate with. It’s that simple.”

For both Allen and Wheeler, the Living Center is a place where their lives have improved immensely in a short time. Both single mothers, they had been using drugs and alcohol for several years and had not held steady jobs for some time.

They have both been “sober” since arriving in the spring and are now employed as school cafeteria workers. Their six-month stay will end in January, at which time they and their children will again be on their own.

Allen became homeless in May after being evicted for not paying rent. “With four kids and on AFDC, I just could not pay for everything,” she said.

And Wheeler, who has three children and has not worked for 13 years, said she was evicted after a person she entrusted with her rent money failed to deliver it.

They each stayed at motels on Thompson Street in Ventura before finding out about the Salvation Army center.

At the center, they have found structure and support as well as a spirituality they said had been lacking in their lives.

“Without the spiritual aspects, none of this [the other assistance programs] would work,” Wheeler said. “The spirituality lets you stop and reevaluate your situation--it gives you hope.”

Another resident, who asked to be known only as Dianne, said she has had little hope at all for the past several months. She and her two teenage children had been living under a tree in Ventura after being evicted from their home earlier this fall.

She came to the center just this week as the rain made living outdoors impossible.

“I remember wrapping gifts at home last year, but this year, I’m just lucky to be anywhere,” Dianne said.