Hard Times at Homeless Facility

G. Landry Humphery is certain that she’ll always work helping South Central Los Angeles’ poor and homeless.

But the key question around the homeless facility she founded 30 years ago is where?

The three buildings that dominate a full block of Slauson Avenue near Van Ness--a reliable oasis for the poor and homeless for decades--are in foreclosure.

Over the years, thousands have come to Helpers for the Hungry and Homeless for a meal, a shower or a pair of pants from the thrift store. The nonprofit group’s volunteers even took the show on the road to downtown L.A.’s Skid Row, where they fed hundreds during each visit.

But in the last few years, the private contributions that sustained the shelter dwindled--and so did its services.

Those trips the volunteers once took daily to Skid Row occur just on Saturdays now. And the three daily meals that were served here are down to just lunches on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, which draw a couple of dozen people each.

Humphery hasn’t told many about her financial difficulties. The 59-year-old known around the community as a warmhearted woman who has committed her life to the less fortunate is used to being the helper, not the helped.

“She’s concerned with the details,” says Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, in whose district the shelter is located. “The first time I was there, they were handing out packages with combs. There’s an attention to the reality of people’s lives. We have to find them a place.”

Typical of Humphery’s clients are people like Janet Robinson, who has been living with her 10-year-old daughter in a motel room. The folks down at the Crenshaw Christian Center told Robinson that Humphery might help her find federally subsidized housing. Robinson, 46, has a job as an administrative assistant and recently spent a day trying to find housing. That’s one less day of pay for someone barely scraping by.

“It’s just that not having a place is preventing me from getting to work,” Robinson said. “They need more places like this where you have a place to eat.”

Humphery brings them inside and gives them a chicken and rice lunch.

“When you see this mother and this 10-year-old, you know you can’t stop helping,” she said. “It’s what I know I have to do.”

Grandmother Taught Her to Help Others

Helping others runs in her family. Originally from New Orleans, as a little girl she went with her grandmother in the night to leave packages of food at the front doors of needy people.

Humphery never knew how her grandmother got the names and addresses. Before she died, her grandmother urged Humphery not to reveal that she had been their benefactor.

Humphery, who gave clothes to fellow students in high school and college, came to Los Angeles in 1969. A year later, she took a cancer victim into her home--the birth of the Women’s Network for Cancer Prevention, the parent organization of her homeless programs. She knew personally about cancer. Her grandmother died from it, and so did her mother. Humphery’s a survivor.

Her work expanded to help the homeless, and by 1980, she turned three houses in the community into shelters. Her husband, the Rev. Robert Humphery, has been a constant companion in that work. She began acquiring the properties on Slauson between 3rd and 4th avenues, where she developed various programs, from feeding people to a computer room for the area’s kids.

Today, the kitchen is kept lively by volunteers. “I feel I’m useful serving the community and doing the work of the Lord,” says Sandra Adebu, a volunteer of nine years who once lined up herself to receive a meal.

At the thrift store, those who are able pay a few bucks for clothes, while the homeless get them for free. About eight years ago, to discourage homeless people from stealing, Humphery opened a recycling center where they could sell what they gathered on the street. Now, the small revenue from the center and the thrift store pay for utilities and the feeding program.

The shelter had always relied on contributions from up to 200 people and from corporate donations, often operating on $300,000 a year. But several years ago, donations began to decline.

Four years ago, it appeared her salvation would be a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which she applied for with the help of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. She got a congratulatory letter from the federal agency saying she would get $1.4 million.

But then came a change of plans.

The grant application indicated the shelter was located inside an empowerment zone--an area targeted for federal investment. In reality, the home is just three blocks outside the zone. As a result, it did not make the roster of 85 organizations in the L.A. area that were awarded $44 million that year.

Closure May Affect Community

Last week, the shelter’s general fund was $30. The mortgage hasn’t been paid since January.

If the shelter were to close, a bigger burden would fall on Portals--another program a few blocks away, which receives federal grants and serves about 85 people daily with food and other programs.

“Any loss of an agency means that more people will be out on the street,” said Linda Connery, of Portals, which has 10 other facilities around Los Angeles. “It affects the whole community.”

A mortgage company is giving Humphery time to come up with the money, but she’s not sure what she’ll do.

A few of the volunteers know about the financial problems--but they insist, as does Humphery, that they will carry on somehow.

“Right now we’re going through the storm, but we’re not going to give up the flag,” said Willie Short, 56, a county employee and volunteer whose cooking visitors here and at Skid Row have enjoyed for years. “I believe God has a marvelous future for our ministry.”