Shelter works magic for those in need

I saw my first eviction notice when I was 5. I had enough English to understand that the big letters that read “3-Day Notice” meant that we had to move. Again.

That time, our family of four would move to a one-room apartment in Chicago situated next to and overlooking a corner gas station. My mother had to pay that rent weekly.

Last October, John and Jane Doe (obviously not their real names) met a fate one step worse. After losing their full-time jobs within three months of each other, they lost their home. In fact, they lost everything.

All of which would not be tragic but for the fact that they have three children.

John and Jane found a future at the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter, one of the most wonderful institutions in Newport-Mesa.

The Does and their children were placed in the shelter’s transitional housing program, where they received care while the Does looked for jobs. The Does got jobs and, thanks to the shelter’s assistance, they were able to save 80% of their income to put toward self-sufficiency.

It’s working. The Does are now in stage 2 of the program, which means they are paying reduced rent but are otherwise on their own, save for scheduled monitoring by a case manager.

“In three months, they will be self-sufficient,” said Tracy Yassini, the shelter’s senior director of development and marketing.

I spoke to Yassini a couple of days ago as she was preparing for a big shelter event, the annual Compassion into Action day on Feb. 18, in which volunteers clean up and repair the housing units.

This year, the shelter is struggling to find donors for some specific products and services that will help more families like the Does get off the street and into jobs.

I asked Yassini to give me the short list of products and services they need next Saturday. Here it is:

* A working refrigerator. I’d bet my 401(k) that there is at least one reader who has a second or third refrigerator in the garage that would be perfect for the shelter. If you can drive it over, great, if not, tell Yassini, and I will help her arrange a pickup. (Her number is at the bottom of the column.)

* About 1,500 square feet of kitchen floor tiles. Are you in the business or do you work for or know someone in the business? The shelter is not choosy, and though they’d like to have something really nice, they know it’s likely that they will be receiving a style that is not a best-seller.

* About 1,500 square feet of carpeting. See above for style information.

* Two working gas stoves. They don’t have to be new, just working.

* And finally: “We have a desperate need for a professional appliance installation person to install the appliances and perhaps move a gas line or two.”

On the phone with Yassini, I called Compassion into Action the “Get to Work” day. Some local organizations are already stepping up to the plate. So here is a big thank you to Johnson Chapel AME Church of Santa Ana; the Unitarian Church of Costa Mesa; Chapman University; the UC Irvine volunteer center; the UCI American Red Cross club; Aliso Niguel High School interactive club; the University High School Red Cross club; youth pastor Kenny Graves; Christ Lutheran Costa Mesa; and UCI Alpha Epsilon Delta, the premed honor society.

The Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter could use your help too, even if you don’t have anything to donate. Just being there to clean or help move stuff would be appreciated.

Compassion into Action day is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. next Saturday in Costa Mesa. It’s only a few hours.

As for boiling down their help to families such as the Does, Yassini wants you to know that “We are empowerers, not enablers.”

In my opinion, they are no less than magicians.

For more information, call Tracy Yassini or Nicole Barker at (949) 631-7213.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident. Readers may leave a message for him at (714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to [email protected].

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