Center for homeless needs a new home

Laguna Beach’s last resort for assistance — from the devastation of wildfires, landslides or homelessness — will soon be out of a home.

The Laguna Relief and Resource Center is losing the lease on its site in Laguna Canyon, and efforts are under way to find a new headquarters, Chairman Ed Sauls said at a forum on homelessness June 14 at Laguna Beach City Hall.

“Our lease is up, and we are negotiating on other property in Laguna Canyon,” Sauls said.

He added that the center’s board is proposing opening a multiservice center, including emergency shelter for the homeless, and hiring paid staff.

The center, 3305 Laguna Canyon Road, now provides emergency assistance to anyone who needs it, but is only open on weekday mornings and is staffed purely by volunteers.

Last year, a homeless man bled to death after breaking a window to enter the facility, apparently seeking food and shelter, on the weekend.

“A multiservice center would take us a step further, with emergency beds and paid professionals,” Sauls said. “We need a place to house people for a short time until they can get into the Friendship Shelter.”

The Friendship Shelter, also in Laguna Beach, provides interim housing and extensive services for homeless people, but there is a waiting list to get in.

Sauls said $200,000 in funds have been raised for a down payment on a new facility, but another $500,000 will probably be needed to acquire a site, expected to cost between $1 million and $1.5 million.

CINDY FRAZIER is city editor of the Coastline Pilot. She can be contacted at (949) 494-2087 or [email protected].