[progchat_action] A Tent City rises in Southern California
 
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:43:29 -0600 (CST)

(It is simply astonishing that a reporter can find a way to put a positive
spin on the creation of a tent city in Eastern Southern California.  But
here it is - tent city called "Camp Hope" which offers "services,"
everything but a home and a job to its residents. But even such rank
boosterism cannot hide the sad fact that the number of homeless in Southern
California has skyrocketed in recent years.  In the 1930s such tent cities
in this country were called "Hoovervilles" and were "Camp Hope" located in
any other country, it would be called what it is - a shantytown.  SR)

Tent city in Ontario offers shelter, services

By Melanie C. Johnson
The Press-Enterprise
December 28, 2007

Ontario - It started in July with a small cluster of tents -- about 30
people -- on a patch of dirt just east of LA/Ontario International Airport.

Through word of mouth, the cluster has grown to an estimated 200 people, an
unofficial tent city that some residents prefer to call Camp Hope.

The encampment at Jefferson Street and Cucamonga Avenue is bordered by train
tracks, tucked away from the burgeoning development in other areas of the
west San Bernardino County city.

Its existence is no secret to police who patrol the area, to officials who
provide services or to church and community volunteers who offer clothing,
meals and an ear to listen.

Brent Schultz, Ontario's director of housing and neighborhood
revitalization, said while there is no time limit on the camp's existence,
it's not meant to be permanent.

'A Temporary Thing'

"This is a temporary thing," he said. "We want to work for permanent housing
solutions for the homeless."

Schultz said that before the city sanctioned what he calls a rest area,
groups of homeless people were camping out too close to homes and the
railroad tracks. Officials allowed them to move onto city-owned land where
it was safer, he said.

Ontario has housing programs and hopes to start construction on an emergency
shelter next year, he said.

At the camp, residents line up to use city-provided portable toilets and
brush their teeth outside multicolored tents.

Mike Dunlap, a volunteer who aids people living on the streets through his
Homeless We Care organization, has helped bring in hot showers to the site
two days a week for the residents.

He hopes to work with the city, county and a coalition of 30 churches to
make the camp more secure. He wants to get as many of the homeless as
possible quickly back on their feet, he said.

"If we put the effort in, we're getting success out there," Dunlap said. "I
don't believe in throwaways."

Statistics

In the past five years, San Bernardino County's homeless population has
grown 39 percent. Homeless advocates and government officials cite as
reasons a sluggish economy, cuts in medical and social service programs and
an influx of homeless from other areas.

The number of homeless in the county increased to 7,331 in 2007, up from
5,270 in 2002, according to a census survey conducted by the Community
Action Partnership of San Bernardino County in February.

Of the 700 surveyed, 83 percent were living on the streets, as opposed to in
a shelter or other temporary housing. Twenty-six percent suffered from
mental illness.

Judi Hershey, 59, has bipolar disorder and said she expects to undergo an
18th surgery on her feet to correct overlapping toes.

The Long Beach native said a car accident pushed her into homelessness. She
lost her place and lived on the streets with a boyfriend before coming to
the camp a few months ago.

At first, she lived in a tent. Now she has a small camper with a sitting
area, a bed and a working stove. A sign outside her door reads "No Shoes."

Although she has relatives, Hershey, who lives on Social Security, said she
relies on her homeless family and enjoys her rent-free camper.

"I have an extraordinary life," she said. "This is where God wants me to be
right now."

San Bernardino County 4th District Supervisor Gary Ovitt, a one-time Ontario
mayor, said the city took a risk in allowing the camp to remain. It's a risk
he lauds, he said.

"When you set aside an area for the homeless, you get more," he said. "It's
a regional issue. Other cities haven't stepped up like Ontario."

Services

Maria Coronado, a program manager for the county's Department of Behavioral
Health, said her agency has a team of case managers who visit the camp two
days a week to provide outreach and medical resources to the mentally ill
there.

Before teaming up with the county, city officials had partnered with Santa
Ana-based Mercy House, a nonprofit group founded 18 years ago.

The partnership has yielded 15 permanent affordable apartments, nine
transitional homes and a temporary intake center that provides food and
motel vouchers, hygiene kits and referrals for employment, housing and other
resources.

Plans are in the works for a permanent intake center, estimated to cost
about $2 million, said Larry Haynes, Mercy House's executive director.

Homeless advocate Dunlap said while those services are appreciated, the
city's programs can only help a limited number of people. Some services
require employment and identification, two things some homeless don't have.

Haynes said it's not possible to help everyone, but the agency's approach of
permanent housing first, then services, has meant a less than 5 percent
chance that people who go through the emergency and transitional programs
will return to the streets.

On a recent afternoon, a small group of residents gathered around a campfire
to beat back the chill and listen to a sermon by volunteer Gabriel Provencio
about God's plan for the poor. Over the din of trains and airplanes,
Provencio leads Bible study at the camp on Tuesday nights as part of his
Mission4Him ministry.

"We saw that a lot of people were feeding, so we decided to come in with the
word of God," he said. "We want to show people that there's hope beyond Camp
Hope."

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_tentcity28.2915a9
6.html

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