Safe place to stay just a start
Center offers what it can to help homeless families get back on their feet
By Carissa Marsh Special to the Acorn

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers IN THE WASH- Volunteer Jeremy Geng starts a load of laundry at the Simi Valley Samaritan Center on Thursday.

Part 2 of a two-part series

Toni Williams, 23, has been homeless for three years now. Three months ago, she gave birth to a baby boy, Alfred.

The future for Toni and her baby is uncertain, but for now- thanks to Simi Valley's Public Action to Deliver Shelter program- the two have a safe place to sleep at night.

"I might as well do this," said Williams about staying at the PADS homeless shelter. "It's not a horrible place. It's better than interfering with people's lives."

As she did last winter, Williams stays at PADS each night. During the rest of the year she floats around from place to place, staying with friends when she can. She's currently on a wait-list for an apartment, but she can't really plan for anything, she said.

Williams admits to worrying about the way people view her as a homeless mother.

"They see me pushing my stroller along and assume I have nothing," she said.

Richard Shaw, a member of the board of directors of the SimiValley Samaritan Center and a PADS volunteer, has watched the mother-and-son pair come in and out of the center and other PADS sites since October.

According to Shaw, Alfred has given his homeless mother something to live for- which is hard to come by on the streets.

"She's an extremely dedicated mother, and she loves her baby. She's trying the best she can," Shaw said. "That baby redeemed her as far as I can see."

Being homeless while caring for a newborn, however, presented a frightening reality for Williams- the threat of Child Protective Services taking Alfred away.

Williams said that people had reported her to CPS but that she was working with the agency to maintain custody of her son.

Where the law stands

Legally speaking, being homeless is not reason enough to take a child away from its parents, according to Debbie Barber, communications manager for the county's Human Services Agency.

"Homelessness is not a crime. There has to be some sort of violation," Barber said. "There has to be visible signs of abuse or neglect for children to be removed from their parents."

She said the obstacles of homelessness, such as not having a car, can make it difficult to comply with the rules no matter how hard one tries.

Beacon of hope

The Samaritan Center, located on Royal Avenue, tries to counteract some of the obstacles the homeless face.

Established in 1995, the center is a morning drop-in facility where a homeless person can get a shower, clean clothes and something to eat.

The center also gives the homeless a place to make phone calls and receive mail and messages- all very important when one is looking for work.

"I don't know if anyone understands how hard it is to find a job when you don't know where you are going to be from night to night," said Anne King, the homeless mother of a 2-year-old girl, Kaidyn.

Outreach programs are also available to the homeless, offering access to public health nurses, abuse counseling, job recruitment, social workers and more. The Samaritan Center is open Monday through Friday from 7 to 11 a.m.

Shaw said many of the homeless who visit the center use the facility to get ready for work.

But more than this tangible help, Shaw said, the center is a source of hope and encouragement for the homeless, who live a "tiresome and stressful existence."

PADS volunteers try to create a relaxing and safe environment for the homeless, said Kittie Fidermutz, a social service aide for the Salvation Army.

"They come in, they can watch a movie, they can joke around a bit and then they go to sleep in a safe, warm place," she said.

Fidermutz said many of the people she works with are scared and overwhelmed by their situation because they have never been homeless before. King said she was nervous to come to PADS but that Fidermutz's sweet voice reassured her that it would be safe.

"Most of them are the kindest people; they're really good people," Fidermutz said. "Most of them are just genuine human beings who are down on their luck."

Unlike many shelters that do not accept families, PADS helps King keep her family together.

"This is the only one that we have found that accepts everyone," King said.

However, the Samaritan Center doesn't offer family specific services, such as a diaperchanging area or baby bottles, to mothers with young children. Shaw said this is because the homeless family phenomenon in Simi Valley is relatively recent, and the center simply does not have the funds to provide everything the families need.

"What people in that situation have been doing is going to Care & Share, which is part of the Salvation Army, where they can get access to diapers and baby formula," Shaw said. "Right now the Samaritan Center is better than nothing, but in order to get it where we really want it to be we need financial support from the community."

Working toward change

Although PADS offers winter refuge to the homeless, Simi Valley doesn't have a permanent homeless shelter.

And Fidermutz said she doesn't think the city will be getting one any time soon.

"I don't think it's something that is necessarily wanted here," she said. "I think (the city is) afraid that if they build it, too many people from other places will come and settle here."

But the city is taking other action to help through its Task Force on Homelessness, which met with the City Council in 2007 to pass a set of strategies addressing the issues of the homeless.

Established in June, the task force has begun to tackle those issues by conducting a number of roundtable meetings with various community groups, said Sandra Thompson, staff coordinator for the team.

"We are addressing the current and future needs of the homeless," Thompson said.

She added that the task force has been working with and documenting specific cases in order to better serve the homeless community and increase the city's capacity to get people back into housing.

The goal of the task force is to end homelessness in 10 years. The 10-year strategy grew out of a nationwide challenge, first proposed in 2001, to end chronic homelessness in a decade. The county's initial goal is to reduce homelessness by 50 percent during the first five years of implementation, from 2008 to 2012.

In the end, the goal is to address each person's basic need for shelter and a place to call home.

"It would just be nice to have a way to live somewhere where you could actually put your own food in your own cupboards and your own refrigerator. It doesn't seem like much to ask for," King said. "We want a home for our child; that's the most important thing."

Those who would like to donate time, money, food, blankets, clothing or any other items to PADS or the Samaritan Center can call (805) 579-9166.

Editor's Note: Just days after Toni Williams' interview with the Acorn, Alfred was taken away.

Despite this blow, Shaw said, Williams has managed to stay in fairly good spirits.

"I was afraid that this could set her off the deep edge and she would go back into her drug abuse, but she hasn't," Shaw said.

Barber could not release any details regarding Williams' case, but Shaw speculated that Williams may have slipped up on her family maintenance plan with CPS.