Number of homeless people goes up in Thousand Oaks

Some Thousand Oaks families go to work each day and spend everything they make to pay for a $50 hotel room.

Parents and children who have no money left for food find nourishment at a different house of worship each night, where they receive a free hot meal through a charity meal program.

Manna, the local food bank, also provides groceries to those in need.

Diana Ortuno, manager of the winter shelter which offers the homeless a place to sleep during the winter months, says the people who can afford a hotel room are some of the lucky ones.

"They are making just enough to survive. Not enough to save up to rent an apartment, but they have a roof over their heads," Ortuno said.

Other families are living in their cars or out on the street.

The Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition counted 147 homeless people in Thousand Oaks during the last week of January—106 adults and 41 children. Twenty-seven families with children were counted. Only one of those families had two parents.

"I was concerned when I looked at the numbers, at the increase in family homelessness. The solution is more suitable affordable housing," said Cathy Brudnicki, executive director of Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition.

The numbers in Thousand Oaks were up. In 2007, 81 homeless people were counted in Thousand Oaks, including 10 families: 40 men, 25 women and 16 children. There were about 100 volunteers counting this year, 40 more than in 2007.

Simi Valley's count went up, from 163 in 2007 to 303 in 2009; Ventura went from 588 to 623, Camarillo from 10 to 13. Moorpark went down from 10 to 7.

The number of people who are homeless over the course of a year is three to four times higher than the number counted, Brudnicki said.

"Any number is troubling," said city of Thousand Oaks spokesperson Andrew Powers.

One of the reasons Thousand Oaks has fewer homeless people than Ventura or Simi Valley could be because of the support and resources offered at Community Conscience Under One Roof human services center at 80 E. Hillcrest Drive, Powers said.

Having help in one place prevents gaps in services and makes it easier for those with transportation challenges. He also pointed out that when law enforcement personnel in Thousand Oaks come upon a homeless person the first question asked is, "What can I do to help this person?" This helps direct the person in need to places where help is available.

There are 120 new affordable housing units coming to the city, Powers said. Sixty come before the council in June and 60 more should be open in the fall.

Brudnicki said Many Mansions, a low-income housing provider in Thousand Oaks, is helping and doing a wonderful job. She said in Thousand Oaks a family of four qualifies for lowincome assistance programs if its annual income is $70,000 or less.

"That's most of the people I know. We're talking about families just like yours or mine who want to provide for their children," Brudnicki said.

Ortuno, who works at Lutheran Social Services— where people in financial trouble go to ask for gas money to get to work or cash to pay rent to avoid eviction—personally knows people who once lived in a house or apartment in Thousand Oaks who are now sleeping in their cars or vans, she said.

There are many reasons, she said: Someone loses a job or a spouse abandons the family. Some have paid their rent, but the landlord failed to pay the mortgage, causing an eviction due to foreclosure.

"One person called needing help after they told their landlord there was mold in their apartment. The landlord responded by giving them a threeday notice to move out," Ortuno said.

In the current economy, families are moving in with each other, doubling up inside homes, filling up rooms that would otherwise be rented out, Ortuno said.

Rick Schroeder, executive director of Many Mansions, also said he has concerns about homeless children in the city of Thousand Oaks.

"We're trying to raise enough money and are looking for a location for a year-round emergency shelter to house women and children," Schroeder said.

The city has designated industrial zones as areas where homeless shelters can be built without a special permit, he said.

"It doesn't seem right for children to be homeless. Being a kid i s hard enough," Schroeder said.

According to this year's Thousand Oaks count, there were 119 people on the streets, 28 in facilities. Three were seniors, and 10 were between the ages of 18 and 24. There were 69 men and 37 women. Eightyeight were white, 10 Hispanic, three American Indian or Alaskan Native, two African American, two Asian/Pacific Islander and one who responded to the question as "other."

Those wanting to assist Lutheran Social Services in providing assistance to people who are trying to stay in their homes can mail a check to Lutheran Social Services, 80 E. Hillcrest Drive, Ste. 101, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, with "Thousand Oaks Community" written in the memo, Ortuno said.

For more information on LSS, call Ortuno at (805) 4976207.

For a copy of the County of Ventura 2009 Homeless Count, visit www.vchhc.org.