Shelter for the Doubly Afflicted

Two groups deserve praise for combining their talents to build and operate the county’s first shelter specifically for homeless people infected with HIV and AIDS. They show us how to foster neighborhood support for needed community services, however controversial those services might be.

It has been 10 years since the county chapter of the Building Industry Assn. launched HomeAid Orange County to help the homeless. The organization has done fine work, bringing together contractors and suppliers to build new housing or renovate old structures. Now HomeAid has joined with an organization that has worked hard to help those needing shelter, Mercy House Transitional Living Centers.

Over a decade, HomeAid has built nearly 30 shelters, with help from more than 1,000 companies and 25,000 volunteers. Millions of dollars in donated labor and materials have helped provide shelter. Mercy House too is a veteran of helping the homeless, running one Santa Ana shelter for homeless men and another for mothers with children. The group is so well respected that the leader of a residents association in French Park, a lovely old section of Santa Ana, said neighbors had no objection to the project to help those with HIV and AIDS.

Mercy House was astute in letting French Park residents know what was planned for the new building, which will be called Emmanuel House. Enlisting community support from the beginning is important in trying to help people accept residents they may not otherwise be happy to have as neighbors.

Orange County has a major problem with homelessness, which afflicts an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people. Of that number, about 1,300 are living with the immune deficiency virus or have developed AIDS, the disease it causes. Much of the money for Emmanuel House will come from private individuals and corporations, commendable contributions and recognition of the need that exists in Orange County.