Facts behind shelter

A lot is riding on the temporary homeless shelter that was expected to open Thursday and is due to be fully operational by mid-month at the ACT V parking lot on Laguna Canyon Road.

The 50-bed “emergency” shelter will not only give destitute street-dwellers a place to spend the night out of the elements, it will also (hopefully) give Laguna Beach residents and visitors respite from an influx of homeless who have congregated on the city’s beaches and parks in escalating numbers.

Earlier this year, the city was forced to abandon an anti-camping ordinance when the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit challenging the ordinance as inhumane, and asserting the “right to sleep” on public land — if one has no other place to lay one’s head.

Long-standing need

The fact is that this shelter is a long time coming. It will serve to replace the long-standing emergency winter shelter system that has been operating for years at local churches. It had become evident years ago that the winter shelters were too heavily used and too difficult to manage by volunteers and church folks.

For example, a damaging fire broke out at one of the church sites in use by homeless, and fights have erupted among people using the shelters, requiring overnight security. Homeless people, some desperate for help, would gather hours ahead of time to be in line for food and shelter. One homeless veteran bled to death after cutting himself on a window trying to get into the Resource Center, which has limited hours of operation. Essential needs were not being met.

One minister finally opined publicly that the job had simply become too daunting for the religious community and the city needed to step up. But the city didn’t step up, and instead waited until the ACLU forced its hand.

Magnet issue

Homeless advocates insist the shelter will not become a magnet for homeless people from other areas. That may be so — the homeless are already here.

As far back as the winter of 2007, shelter operators were reporting an unprecedented increase in the number of people — especially women — seeking shelter in Laguna Beach; and this was before the economy went into a tailspin, and before the ACLU lawsuit. The shelters were at capacity and there was a fear that the program would exhaust its funds. The fact that Laguna Beach was the only south Orange County city offering shelter was a factor, at least anecdotally.

The big question is whether the hardcore homeless will use the shelter, which has been derided by some as a “Nazi camp,” an absurd and unfair comparison that probably doesn’t deserve comment but is easily debunked.

Sneak peak

I went to the shelter just before it opened to get a sneak peak, and found a pleasant, attractive, landscaped place with a welcome mat at the front and flowers on the picnic tables.

Yes, there’s a fenced area and once inside the gates, “guests” won’t be allowed to come and go, according to Mark Miller, associate executive director of the Friendship Shelter, which is taking a leading role in the shelter operation.

“Once people come inside, we ask them to stay inside the fence, or they can’t return for that evening,” Miller said. “When they come in, we’re responsible for them and we have to supervise them and regulate their behavior.”

Clients will have to check in and sign a contract that they will abide by the rules and be “respectful” of the place and others in it, he said. No alcohol or drugs are allowed.

Homeless people will be given “comfortable” mats and blankets to bed down on, and women will have some sense of privacy through a partition. They will be given a good dinner in the evening and a sack lunch to take with them in the morning when they leave to spend their day out-of-doors. They will be encouraged to leave their belongings at the shelter, but will be given “day packs” for their daily needs while outside. Check-in begins at 6 p.m., and check-out is at 7:30 a.m.

Transportation will be offered to and from the shelter from downtown Laguna.

Dawn Price Q&A;

I asked Dawn Price, executive director of the Friendship Shelter, a few questions in anticipation of the opening. Here are my questions and Price’s answers:

If Laguna Beach’s temporary shelter is successful, should it become permanent?

We fully expect to be successful in achieving the temporary shelter’s goals. We will provide a safe, welcoming place for people to sleep as well as caring employees and volunteers to assist the people who use the site. This will reduce or eliminate encampments in our parks and on our beaches. That’s success as we’ve narrowly defined it for this project.

That said, I think all of us associated with this venture understand that this solution does not address all of the problems associated with homelessness in Laguna Beach, and in particular the needs of local merchants who feel their businesses have been impacted by the presence of visibly distressed, needy individuals in the downtown area during the day. Friendship Shelter’s long-term goal is to provide programs that go beyond the goals of the temporary site.

We believe our community’s homeless population would be best served, long-term, by permanent supportive housing that can meet the complicated needs of individual homeless people around-the-clock — and which can be funded by a combination of local, state, federal and private funds rather than funded solely by the city.

Will a homeless shelter draw more homeless to Laguna Beach? If not, why not?

I don’t believe so. I am persuaded by the overwhelming evidence that contradicts the magnet theory. Research shows that homeless people do not make long-term, long-distance moves strictly to access services, and certainly not to access temporary cold weather shelters.

When the Urban League studied homelessness in Santa Monica several years after that city expanded services, it concluded that homeless individuals migrated to Santa Monica because of its beauty and affluence, not for services. I think the same can be said for Laguna Beach. This alternative sleeping location is intended for the use of our local homeless population, and the city has taken steps, if necessary, to restrict access, which it has the right to do.

What is the core underlying reason for homelessness in Laguna Beach?

The reasons for homelessness here are no different than anywhere else in the country: mental illness, substance abuse, family dysfunction, personal tragedy — all complicated these days by a struggling economy.

Now we’ll see how these efforts to address such enormous issues pan out in a small town.

CINDY FRAZIER is city editor of the Coastline Pilot. She can be contacted at (949) 380-4321 or [email protected].