Potter’s Lane promises homeless veterans a chance at a life off the streets

Fourteen years ago, Tina Starr found herself homeless.

The Anaheim native had served six years in the Navy but was having difficulty readjusting to civilian life and the end of her marriage. She soon became addicted to drugs and alcohol and lost her job and eventually her home.

Starr and her 9-year-old daughter found temporary shelter at a church in Buena Park.

“They did what they could, but it was not clean,” the mother said. “They pushed aside the furniture in some classrooms so we could sleep on the floor.

“I held my daughter so tight. I held her really close to me because we’d be sleeping next to men, women, everybody.”

For the next five years, Starr fought to put her life back together, entering Alcoholics Anonymous and finding new work, and in 2006, she got what she had been dreaming of, a home of her own.

Her two-bedroom condo in Westminster — complete with a patio and a carport — is a permanent affordable housing unit owned by American Family Housing, a Southern California nonprofit that provides housing and services to homeless families and individuals.

Potter’s Lane promises to have a different kind of of housing for the homeless.

(Handout / Daily Pilot)

AFH has always assisted veterans, setting aside a certain percentage of its units for those who have served in the military. But now it is making a bigger push by building Potter’s Lane, an entire permanent housing facility for veterans in need.

When it opens in Midway City next year, the project will feature 16 units of 480 square feet each — 15 for homeless vets and one for an on-site manager — and on-site services such as group and individual counseling, medical care, veterans liaisons and employment programs.

But this is no ordinary homeless housing project. It is being built with modified-steel shipping containers and promises, according to a news release, “a sustainable environment that soothes the soul.”

Through “tranquil” common areas, including indoor and outdoor communal spaces and gardens, “residents will interact with each other and help build a sense of community,” the release says.

The aesthetics of the eco-friendly housing project will benefit everyone, according to Donna Gallup, president and CEO of American Family Housing.

“This is a huge upgrade for the community,” she said.

“A lot of these young men and women are coming back from their deployment and are trying to reintegrate into a community that wasn’t prepared for their post-traumatic stress disorders, for their mental health issues, for their physical disabilities, for their challenges in reintegrated back into mainstream civilian life,” Gallup said. “So a lot of people fell through the cracks and couldn’t make it.”

AFH will work with Orange County officials to identify the most vulnerable homeless veterans and give them priority for residence in Potter’s Lane — “the most likely to die on the streets if left unsheltered,” Gallup said.

All the units will be subsidized by AFH, but residents will pay up to 30% of their income, if they have one, toward rent. Tenants will also sign a lease, similar to one that any other apartment complex would require, dictating rules for proper conduct in the community.

If residents have difficulty finding employment or abiding by the terms of the lease, AFH services will help them get back on track.

“Our goal is to do whatever it takes to help that person be successful in that unit,” said Gallup. “AFH is that safety net, that unconditional love and care to be sure that if they fall down, we can help them get back up so they don’t become homeless again.”

AFH, which was established in 1985, currently has 267 units in its portfolio of interim, permanent, affordable and service-enriched housing across Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

While Potter’s Lane will get 15 veterans get off the streets, Gallup knows that isn’t enough.

“We need more housing, more projects like Potter’s Lane,” she said. “We have 450 unsheltered homeless veterans right now, so 15 units isn’t going to do it. We have to keep repeating this.”

The county has estimated that 15,000 people would be homeless at some point this year. While homelessness is on the decline in neighboring Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, the number of unhoused individuals has been on the rise in Orange County for the past two years.

Gallup stressed that if these numbers are to come down, “everyone needs to be doing their part.” This includes everyday residents, who might find a complex like Potter’s Lane coming to their neighborhood.

“One thing people can do to help is when a project that’s going to serve homelessness comes to their community — be supportive,” Gallup said. “The ‘not in my backyard’ sentiment in Orange County is very strong and interferes with the community’s ability to help itself.”

Opposition has led Fullerton and Santa Ana to reject new homeless shelters in recent years, and this year, a proposal to create the county’s first year-round shelter in Anaheim drew fierce criticism from residents and business owners, although the plan was eventually approved by the Board of Supervisors in November.

While veterans like Starr make up just 4% of the total Orange County population, they account for 12% of homeless adults, according to the county’s 2015 homelessness survey. But unlike Starr, 80% of these homeless veterans do not even have a shelter to take refuge in and end up living on sidewalks and in abandoned buildings, parks and cars.

Starr recalls the joy of getting a house of her own.

“We didn’t have anything but a sleeping bag and a pile of our simple everyday belongings,” said Starr, 48. “But I was so happy to have that home. I always said, ‘four walls and a roof,’ that’s what I lived for. And we got it.”

“It’s a place I can call home and be proud of,” she went on. “I held family Christmases and Thanksgivings here. I’m proud to bring anybody and everybody into my home because it’s beautiful.”

Starr said that a facility like Potter’s Lane would have been “ideal” for her, in particular because of all the services that come with the housing. “Those services are essential,” she said. “You can’t just throw a house at someone and fix homelessness.”

But Starr, who now works at AFH as an executive assistant, office manager and grant writer, is happy where she is. This March marks the 10-year anniversary of her move into an American Family Housing property. Maintaining this home — along with her sobriety and her job — is one of her biggest accomplishments.

“Ten years in one place — that’s awesome,” she said. “It took some time for me to even believe it. But this is my home. And I’m not going anywhere.”