Homes for the Homeless in Orange County

Scott Larson (below right), the executive director of HomeAid Orange County, took time from his schedule to teach my friend John Braun and me about the continuum of housing solutions for homeless people in Orange County, California.   

The types of housing he discussed were emergency housing, transitional housing, and permanent / supportive housing.  

Types of Housing - by Length of Stay*

Type of Housing	Description
Permanent Housing	This just means that there is no time limit on how long you can reside in the housing or receive the housing assistance. It is meant to be long-term. “Permanent supportive housing” (or PSH) is just permanent housing that makes support services available to help you maintain your housing and access community resources.
Transitional Housing	This means that there is a time limit on how long you can stay in the housing or receive the housing assistance. HUD defines transitional housing as stays of up to 24 months (but stays can be shorter).
Short-Term or Temporary Housing	This means that the housing situation is intended to be very short-term or temporary (30, 60, or 90 days or less).
Emergency Shelter	Provides a place to stay or bed to sleep in overnight if you become homeless or otherwise experience a housing crisis and have no place to go.

*http://homebaseforhousing.org/Education/Definitions.cshtml

After describing each type and their role in serving the homeless, Scott showed us a map of where each type of housing was in Orange County and where the greatest needs were both in terms of the type of housing involved and its geographic location.

Scott then took us on a tour to see firsthand the various housing types.  A few of our stops are described below.

THE COURTYARD IN SANTA ANA

The Courtyard is an emergency shelter that just opened near the Santa Ana Civic Center.  The Courtyard is a former bus terminal that is now open 24 hours a day to provide a safe place to sleep for up to 400 people per night.  Those that stay at the courtyard can also shower, do laundry, and store their belongings there.  The shelter is divided into areas designated for individuals, couples, people with pets, and those ready to move into more permanent housing. Most importantly, the clients can be connected to a variety of services such as medical clinics, veteran's support and legal aid.  The Courtyard is a joint venture between the city of Santa Ana, the County of Orange and the  Midnight Mission. 

Orange County Armory Cold Weather Shelter - Santa Ana For several years, the Orange County Cold Weather Armory Emergency Shelter program provides shelter and services for the homeless at the National Guard Armories in Fullerton and Santa Ana during the cold winter months. The homeless will receive a nutritious meal, a warm shower, and a safe place to sleep. Volunteers will pass out donations of warm clothing and Service Providers from Orange County will be on site to provide needed services.   A condition of use with the National Guard is that the everything be torn down and put into storage each day to in case the National Guard is called into service that day. Mercy House operates the shelter for the county.

ISAIAH HOUSE EMERGENCY HOUSING

Isaiah House of the Orange County Catholic Worker has served poor people since 1987. Located in Santa Ana's eastside, this house is open to those most at risk on the streets. Isaiah House offers formal meals for the homeless, shelter, bags of food and clothing, showers, emergency assistance, a relaxing backyard, and encouragement.  Isaiah House was founded and operates on the principle of “seeking God by living with the poor”.

Orange County Rescue Mission Transitional Living Facility

The Orange County Rescue Missions’ Villageof Hope is a comprehensive 192-bed transitional housing facility for homeless men, women and children located on a five acre campus in Tustin.  The Mission serves the homeless by providing services such as residential housing for up to two years, medical and dental care, meals, job training, case management, substance abuse treatment, parent training, anger management training, mental health care assessment and treatment, housing assistance and placement, and life skills training.  The Orange County Rescue Mission was established in 1963 and operated out of a store front facility in Santa Ana, CA., providing food and shelter to very poor and homeless populations.  It was founded by Marine Corps Technical Sergeant Lewis White and his wife.  Today, the Christian-based Orange County Rescue Mission is the county’s largest privately funded human service agency for the poor and homeless. The magnitude of the services they provide is shown in the table below.

SALVATION ARMY HOSPITALITY HOUSE

The Salvation Army Hospitality House provides homeless single adult males with a clean, safe place to stay.  The Santa Ana Hospitality House has a capacity of 75 beds, and also provides clients with meals, an on-site case worker and job placement assistance. Beds are assigned based on availability, as well as a designated length of stay. However, individuals who need more time to rebuild their lives have the opportunity to extend their stay and participate in the transitional living programs. Food, clothing, and counseling services are provided free of charge to those that are in need, as well as work search and integrated employment programs.

Services include: 
-Transitional Living Programs 
-Emergency Shelter 
-Daily Meal Service 
-Case Management and Counseling 
-Employment Assistance and Job Placement 
-Substance Abuse Recovery Services and Crisis Intervention 
-Transportation and Basic Needs Assistance 
-Computer and Life Skills Classes 
-Weekly Worship Services 

Summary

Thanks again to Scott Larson, the Orange County HomeAid Executive Director for teaching us about homeless housing options in Orange County.  Orange County HomeAid has been instrumental in building and rehabilitating facilities like these all over Orange County.  It was clear that while much has been done, the need remains great.  HomeAid and the other organizations described above are all well deserving of any type of support you can provide.

More Great Work - Orange County Home Aid

I was recently introduced to the Orange County (California) HomeAid organization. HomeAid Orange County has the sole vision and purpose to end homelessness in Orange County. 

 HomeAid Orange County was founded in 1989 by the Building Industry Association of Southern California.  Over the last 28 years they have completed 60 development projects that added 1500 shelter beds throughout the county.  To date these facilities have housed 60,000 homeless.

HomeAid is primarily a housing developer that connects service providers with community volunteers, builders and specialty contractors to build new or renovate housing for homeless families and individuals.  HomeAid is involved in each phase of the development including land acquisition, funding, design, construction, interior design, and landscaping. HomeAid multiplies every dollar received through in-kind donation and volunteer labor. To date, over $45 million in in-kind donations have been focused on solving homelessness in the community.  

HomeAid Family Care Center

I visited the construction site for the Family Care Center (artist concept shown above).  This shelter will open in the Spring of 2017 and provide emergency housing for families.  With 56 beds, it is expected to provide refuge for 10-15 families per day.  As with all of HomeAid's developments, the Family Care Center will be operated by a community partner, in this case, Mercy House.

Beyond housing development, HomeAid has two other major initiatives impacting the homeless community.  

"HomeAid Essentials" is a community wide annual effort to collect 1.5 - 2 million essential baby items such as diapers and baby food for the close to 500 babies and their mothers experience homelessness in Orange County.

"HomeAid CareKits" is a key means of outreach to those living on the streets.  Each year approximately 6000 CareKits and other items such as blankets, clothing, and other hygiene items are assembled and distributed.  The CareKits (shown below) have many useful items, the most important of which is a reference card that links the homeless individual to a broad range of needed services.  

HomeAid 's work has been validated by several organizations that continue to partner with them.  These include Google, Kimberly-Clark, Starbucks, UPS, Angels Baseball, and Kaiser Permanente.  

I highly recommend that anyone living in Orange County consider partnering with HomeAid to help address homelessness.  

If you don't want to go to a shelter...

After visiting a couple of homeless shelters in downtown Chicago (dscribed earlier in this blog), four of us (Damon J, Gosia D, and Kathy T and I) went out on a Sunday afternoon to see where people who didn't stay in shelters were living around the city.  It was 10 degrees Farenheit.  

We started at the only open field in the city.  It's right in the shadow of the downtown business district and is crisscrossed with railroad tracks.  Chicago's inital growth during the eighteen and early nineteen hundreds was because it was the hub for all major railroads crossing the country.

A tent city had developed over the last few months on the land in the remnants of the prairie brush. The tallest silver building in the picture below is the Trump Tower.  The other building are the homes of major Chicago based corporations.  

The living accomodations ranged from simple tarps as shown below in the brush to much more elaborate setups.

This couple had a firepit and a couch and had even added a shelf with some cooking materials.

Last week though, new fences were put up, the brush was cleared, and all the residents evicted.  (Apparently, the land had been sold and a new development is going up in this rapidly growing section of  Chicago).  Their belongings were mainly still in place but they were not able to retrieve them.  It was very much like a ghost town.

Each of the tents had a large red "X" painted on it's side, indicating that the residents had been moved out.  If you look carefully, you can see the "X" on the green tent below and also see how almost all the brush and trees had now been cleared away.  It was discouraging to think that these people who had next to nothing, lost the little they had.

Pacific Garden Mission - A refuge for the homeless

When I talk to people who sleep on the streets, I ask them why they don't go to a shelter when the temperature is below freezing.  I have been told by more than one person that they would rather sleep on the street than go to the shelter.  Various complaints I have heard are that the shelter is dirty, unsafe, infested with bugs, like prison, etc.  I wanted to see for myself so I arranged to visit the largest and oldest shelter in Chicago.

My wife and I visited Chicago's Pacific Garden Mission on Saturday afternoon (1/7/2017).  It was an incredible and enlightening experience.

Our hosts were Pastor Ervin McNeill and Joseph Thompson.  As was the case with 90% of the staff, both men had been "guests" of the Mission at earlier points in their lives.

Pastor Ervin McNeill

The Mission was established in 1877 and has been in continuous operation for 139 years.

The Mission currently provides housing and meals for 900 people per day but has surged up to 1500 per day as needed.  The guests come and go as they please and are provided 3 meals per day.  Men, women, and families with children are all welcome in the 164,000 square foot facility.

The Mission has three main programs: 1) An overnight guest program, 2) a substance abuse program, and 3) a New Life program.

The Mission attempts to meet the full range of their guests needs.  They provide on sight medical care, dentists, podiatrists, psychiatric and psychological services, barber and salon services, clothing, and job training.

All programs and services are provided absolutely free to the guests.  The Mission accepts no government grants of any type and fully fund their $5M annual budget through individual donations.

The Mission is extremely clean and well ordered.  The main thoroughfare is bright and cheerful.  It is illuminated with street lights to remind the guests of their progress in leaving the streets.

The main hallway which uses street lights for illumination

The dining hall serves 1500 meals a day and was spotless.  The guests of the Mission can develop job skills and work experience through working in the food services operation, the laundry, the mailroom, etc.

The dining hall serves 1500 meals a day

When housing 1000 people, space is at a premium.  There are separate dormitories for men, women, and families with children.  All bedding is washed every day.

Space is at a premium when housing 1000 people per night

After the wake-up call and breakfast, the guests move into separate men's and women's day rooms or go to a work assignment, counseling, training, or a religious service.

A view of the Men's day room from across the courtyard

The Pacific Garden Mission is a faith-based organization.

Their mission statement is:  "We serve with the compassion of Christ and minister with the transforming message of the Gospel".  

Their stated vision is: "We offer life answers through faith in Jesus Christ, through any season of life, so that our guest become fully functioning followers of Christ".

The banner in the main auditorium clearly demonstrates the Mission's focus

I was incredibly impressed with the dedication of the Pacific Garden Mission team towards meeting the needs of the homeless population of Chicago.  I'm looking forward to personally partnering with them to do some small part to help achieve their vision.

For those interested in learning more, please go to  http://www.pgm.org 

Pacific Garden Mission

1458 S. Canal Street

Chicago, IL 60607

312-492-9410