Group seeks permanent facility for homeless in Conejo Valley

LISA ADAMS/T.O. Acorn LEADERSHIP TEAM-Alyce Hartman, left, and Joya Canham listen while Nick Doerr leads a community forum on the homeless problem in Thousand Oaks. The meeting took place last Tuesday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

Lutheran Social Services (LSS) in Thousand Oaks conducted its fifth community forum at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church recently to address homelessness in Conejo Valley.

The forums were established last April after a mentally ill homeless man, James Daniels, was shot by deputies in T.O. Daniels had come to Lutheran Social Services for assistance on several occasions.

In five months, the forum formed several committees to address many of the problems that cause homelessness, such as mental health problems, lack of transportation, joblessness and other factors.

LSS recently enlisted the help of Alyce Hartman, a public relations expert, to help spread the word about homelessness.

"We want to turn fear into compassion," Hartman said, as she addressed the recent forum. Hartman promised to offer training for forum volunteers on how to solicit donations for a shelter and for other programs to assist the needy.

With a long-term goal of building a permanent, year-round shelter for homeless people in Conejo Valley, the short-term goal is to become an official nonprofit organization.

The first item on the agenda for the next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 10, is to create a name for the organization. A list of possibilities is being created from those already in the organization.

To get involved or for more information, please call Joya of LSS at (805) 497-6207.

––Lori Porter