New Home to Serve Mentally Ill Clients

A newly outfitted residence for homeless, mentally ill adults will be the site of an open house Friday in Ventura.

The Turning Point Foundation, which provides vocational training, counseling and shelter to homeless and mentally ill clients, will celebrate the opening of its Single Room Occupancy Housing Facility at 536 E. Thompson Blvd. from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nine men and women who suffer from conditions such as depression and schizophrenia will live there.

The two-story building now houses a homeless shelter on the first floor, said Clyde Reynolds, director of the Turning Point Foundation. The shelter opened in April 1996. The Single Room Occupancy Housing Facility, located on the second floor of the building, will house one resident counselor in addition to the nine clients.

“We feel this is important because it will not be just a short-term solution for these people,” Reynolds said. “This will be their home, and should they need a brief hospital stay, or a higher level of care for a time, their home will be waiting for them when they return.”

Residents will have private bedrooms and share common areas--a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, showers and a laundry room. The resident counselor will have a separate apartment. Occupants will be selected by staff members from the homeless shelter, and will come from the shelter’s clientele, county mental health clinics and the county’s emergency shelter project, Reynolds said.

“Each client will sign a lease agreement and agree to live in accordance with the house rules, to behave and not be disruptive,” he said.

The bulk of the funding for the project came from a federal grant, Reynolds said. The Department of Housing and Urban Development gave $406,000, which covers operating expenses for the first five years, as well as the $250,000 used to retrofit the commercial building for residential use.

Additional funds include a $280,000 grant from the city of Ventura, a $30,000 grant from the county and $12,000 from Procter & Gamble Co. Residents, most of whom receive disability payments, will be charged 30% of their monthly income for rent.

“It will be a shared living environment and a chance for these people to make a home,” Reynolds said.