LAGUNA BEACH : Builders Oversee Shelter Renovations

Officials of HomeAid, a program sponsored by the Building Industry Assn. to assist the homeless, visited the Friendship Shelter on Tuesday to oversee $100,000 in renovations that the program is sponsoring at the homeless shelter.

The renovations include a new staircase, a new balcony, an enlarged kitchen, new carpeting and repair of five bathrooms. The shelter, a former apartment house, accommodates up to 20 people, but the replacement of the balcony will permit five more people to live upstairs because it will provide an additional fire escape.

The work at Friendship Shelter began several months ago and is the first of four shelters to be renovated under HomeAid’s second phase of projects. The group’s first phase involved the construction and renovation of five shelters, which increased the number of beds for county homeless by 15%.

The idea, said Bob Albertson, HomeAid chairman, is to support programs that provide homeless people with temporary shelter until they find work, save money and can live independently.

The labor and supplies for the renovation of Friendship Shelter were donated by HomeAid members and augmented by donations from the community. Shea Homes and Brock Homes are the “builder captains” on the project, responsible for lining up sub-contractors.

“This is like manna from heaven,” the Rev. Colin Henderson, executive director of the shelter, told visiting HomeAid officials.

The shelter houses homeless people for up to 60 days, during which time residents must look for work and save money so that they can afford housing on their own when they leave. The shelter provides two meals a day, as well as job and psychiatric counseling. Henderson said that in the shelter’s two-year history, 124 people have gone on to independent living.