Volunteers work to shelter, provide meals for homeless caught in lingering cold spell
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers MANNA FOR MANKIND- Calvary Community Church volunteers Bill Oliver, a Westlake Village resident, and Carolyn Dosick of Camarillo deliver bread to the dining area where they supervise the Conejo Valley Meal and Shelter Program at the church in the city of Westlake Village on Tuesdays.

As area farmers struggle to help their fruit survive during record-low temperatures, Diana Ortuna is trying to protect homeless men, women and children from freezing.

The Conejo Valley Meals and Shelter director coordinates the efforts of more than 40 charity groups who take turns working with various shelter locations to provide meals and beds for 15 to 20 people a night.

Sometimes the homeless children at the shelter, ranging in age from infants to teenagers, cling to their parents; other times they run around and try to make the best of it, Ortuna said. Three wellbehaved young boys recently tried to organize a game of indoor football between dinner and bedtime, but were told that wasn't allowed, she said.

"They just act like regular kids, but they seem to understand their homeless situation," Ortuna said.

The shelter opened Nov. 15 to protect the homeless population of the area that usually camps around town- in brush, on the street or in cars. Six churches and a synagogue each open their doors one day a week to provide refuge from the cold. Cots or mattresses serve as beds. Dinner includes dishes like pot roast, lasagna or chicken.

Depending on the facility, the shelter's clients get to watch a movie or play games such as dominos until bedtime. On Wednesdays, they get to take showers because the Westminster Presbyterian Church has built a place for that, Ortuna said.

The majority of those served are men, but single women come, as do families. Usually the families are offered a place together in the corner away from the others. If possible, they will get a divider or a separate room, depending on what accommodations a shelter has on a particular night, Ortuna explained.

In the morning some type of breakfast, such as doughnuts or bagels, is served. Peanut butter and jelly or other types of sandwiches, fruit or snacks are given in a brown paper bag to each person for lunch.

The volunteers- who come as individuals or with churches, synagogues, schools or clubs- provide the food, serve it, help set up the bedding and take it home to wash. Volunteers also sleep over at the shelter at night to help watch over those staying there.

The Conejo Valley shelter is busiest on Wednesday evenings because a shelter program in a nearby town does not have a location available on Wednesdays, Ortuna said.

The doors at the shelter open at 5:30 p.m. and close at 8 p.m. unless, under special circumstances, someone has arranged in advance with Ortuna to come in later. Even then, 10 p.m. is the latest anyone is accepted, she said. That makes it hard for those who work late.

"Some people who work later than 10 o'clock have to sleep in their cars, or wherever they can find," Ortuna said.

The fact that the shelter location moves from place to place every night can be an obstacle for clients, some facilities being miles away from others. Many of the homeless must use public transportation to get around.

"Our bus system in the Conejo Valley is not very good," said Ortuna.

That means homeless people often must walk from shelter to shelter, she said.